Project: EVE
by PimpedOutToast
Summary: The Lone Wanderer, Messiah of the Wastes, simply known by his friends as Richard, discovers a strange girl while interrupting an Enclave raid.Language,Violence. COMPLETE AND REFORMATTED FOR EASIER READING!
1. Just Another Day At The Office

**Project: EVE**

A Fallout 3 Fanfiction

by

PimpedOutToast

Chapter 1

Just Another Day At The Office...

Twelve hours.

Richard, or "Rich", had set up shop among the cliffs near the dangerous Deathclaw Sanctuary. Fawkes sat behind him, watching his six.

He had a Poplar's Hood on to hide the messy outline of his hair as he aimed down the scope of his powerful Victory Rifle.

According to the scribes at the brotherhood, the Enclave was planning a raid of this cave of horrors.

His job?

Pick off as many as possible with his sniper's rifle, then proceed with Fawkes in killing the troops.

Then he saw them: multiple vertibirds incoming.

He tensed in his Tesla Armor. This was it.

Then he spotted a Vertibird carrying a cage.

"Great. Mind Controlled Deathclaws..." He muttered.

The Enclave had a habit of strapping on strange helmets to the monsters, giving them full control of the beasties.

As troopers left the aircraft and began to set up shop, Rich waited.

They slowly opened the gate to the cavern...

and the one in the rear of the group fell as his head exploded, accompanied by a loud 'CRACK!' from the Victory Rifle.

Then another fell. Slowly the other twenty-odd soldiers turned to where the shots came from and opened fire.

"Shit!" He grabbed his rifle, jumped up and began to switch weapons while he ran.

"Fawkes! It's showtime!"

Fawkes nodded. "About time! I was growing bored!" The super mutant chuckled.

Rich got out his Tri-Beam Laser Rifle after firmly securing his Winterized Power helmet. "Let's do this!"

He slid down a rock face, followed by Fawkes. The two factions opened fire.

Unfortunately, twenty armored troops weren't much of a match for Fawkes and Rich. Rich stole any ammo and other useful items the troopers had... including a key.

The two walked over to the cage. "Give me a boost up."

Fawkes nodded and lifted the Messiah of the Wastes onto the cage.

"When it jumps out..." Rich drew his trench knife. He remembered the simulation he risked his real life in to acquire this rare war tool.

He still held some regret for the Outcasts he had been forced to kill. He shook off the thoughts and raised the knife.

He nodded and Fawkes unlocked the door.

It didn't open.

Rich gestured for Fawkes to open the door, and the intelligent super mutant did so.

The living being inside came out, and Rich jumped...

her?

He had already jumped from the top of the crate, and crash landed on top of the human female who had crept out.

He slowly stood up. When he got a good look at her, he found she wasn't human... at least not completely.

She had black hair, very light peach skin as if she hadn't seen sunlight in a while, and a slim figure.

She wore a top which appeared to have had its sleeves torn off, with a V neck covered by some sort of cloth strings in a criss-cross pattern and a skirt, which also seemed torn at the bottom, both made of what he assumed was Brahmin skin.

Rich noticed she was also about the same height as him, maybe even taller by a couple of centimeters.

Seeing as he was 6' 5", that impressed him. But the 'human' ended there.

From her skull protruded two horns that almost hugged her scalp. Out of her lower back protruded the sight that frightened him most: a long, reptilian, bony tail. The similarities between that and a Deathclaw's was...

He heard a familiar snorting noise. His havoc had gotten the attention of the monsters in the nearby cavern. The beasts began to rush him and Fawkes.

"GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" He pulled out his Vengeance Gatling Laser, which he had looted from the hellhole he now faced once before with Fawkes.

Fawkes armed his own Gatling Laser and they opened fire.

One slipped past the firestorm. How did Rich know this?

Because the being behind them made a terrified squeakish noise. Rich spun his gun around and unleashed red, burning hell upon the monstrosity towering over the girl.

Once the beings were decimated, he and Fawkes put away their weapons. "

Alright. Let's get some information." He looked at the being. "What's your name?"

She cocked her head.

"I'm sorry. Are you mute? Deaf?" He felt a bit inconsiderate about not thinking about that possibility.

She just continued staring blankly at him. He heard a cough.

He turned to see an Enclave trooper attempting to crawl. Rich grabbed the man in armor and held him to his face.

"What do you know?"

The soldier pointed to a computer... and died.

Rich turned it on... and it was locked. He spent a few minutes hacking the device, before getting into the data.

"Let's see..." He was soon engulfed in his work. "Amazing... This experimentation technique... this "Forced Evolutionary Virus"... Incredible! But... oh my God! How _could_ they! This is insanity! Oh... I see."

He saved all the information onto a holotape for later reference, then shot the hell out of the computer with his Combat Shotgun.

"Some secrets are best left to the few who can handle them..." Rich muttered.

"What is it? What have you discovered that makes you uneasy, my friend?" asked Fawkes. "I'll show you later. Right now, we need to get back to Megaton. Find out what to do with her."

* * *

It had been a whole year since Rich had left Vault 101 for the first time, and he still hated all this hiking.

He didn't mind the exercise, but wasting ammo on every beast or bug that attacked him was rather annoying... and burned a hole in his supply of caps.

That, along with keeping his armor intact and his weapons functioning, made keeping caps around the house for emergencies, and collecting fingers for the Regulators, all that more important.

He gave the gates to megaton a small push and they opened. He was greeted by the town's Sheriff and Mayor, Lucas Simms... but he wore a suspicious expression.

'Well, there goes easy...' Thought Rich.

"Hold on there. I've let you bring in a dog and even a Super Mutant, but whatever she is, she looks too much like one of those nasty reptiles up north."

"Look, Simms, I'll explain everything... _After _I get her locked up in my house." He turned to Fawkes.

"Make sure she doesn't hurt anyone and take her back to the house." The super mutant nodded and lead her away. He met severe resistance from the girl, but got her back.

"I need a computer." Simms nodded.

"I have one in my house. Come on." The two walked to Simms's house. Along the way the two men spoke.

"So where did you find her?" Asked Simms.

"I can't give you all the details, classified information and whatnot, but I can tell you I got her out of an Enclave cage. I looked at the computer nearby and copied the data to this holotape,"

He retrieved the data storage device. "That's why I need a computer."

The two arrived soon at Simms's home. Harden, Lucas's son, was inside.

"Harden, we have... grown-up things to discuss. Why don't you go outside for a bit and play?" The boy nodded in the affirmative and ran outside.

Rich handed Simms the holotape and the leader of Megaton inserted it into his personal computer.

His face became solemn after reading the files. "That is truly awful."

"I had to read it over twice to be sure. I can't believe someone would be so heartless as to use a human being as a science experiment." Rich commented.

"But why would they do this? Maybe a weapon?" pondered Lucas Simms.

"Perhaps... or maybe an experiment all its own. Look at this."

"Project: E.V.E."

Meanwhile, Fawkes had his hands full. The girl continued to try and leave the building. "I have told you, you are to remain in this structure until Richard returns!" He grabbed the female by her right arm and tried to hold her back.

This turned out to be a mistake, as she hissed and literally clawed him across the chest. The pain wasn't great, but he now saw that there was more Deathclaw to her than first observed;

she had the namesake of the worst of her, yet they were retractable.

"No! Stay... Put!" The door opened and Richard entered. The female ceased her fighting and turned her attention to the human male. She slowly circled him. Richard's hand was at his side, ready to draw the .44 magnum revolver he had as his sidearm.

He spotted the claw marks on Fawkes's chest and, when the opportunity presented itself, rammed the girl into the wall. He pressed the handgun deep into her forehead.

"You know what this is?" She remained silent, in shock. "Do you? You hurt my friend. You know what I do to anyone who hurts my friends?"

He cocked the gun. " I fuckin' kill em'! That's what I do! May God in Heaven damn me for it, but I'll put a bullet in your half dead brain before you can even try to kill me. You're no different than any other animal!"

He grabbed her neck and carried her to the gates. "You twisted freak of nature! Get out of the city I call home, and don't come back!"

He was furious. "and be glad your brains aren't splattered over a wall."

He closed the gates and locked them. As he turned to leave he heard scraping noises.

"Go on! Just go and get eaten by some other animal!"

He heard what he dared not believe to be a sort of sad whining noise. "Don't think I'll let you back in. Go, now!"

The noises stopped... and he returned to his home. He needed a good night's sleep...

* * *

Meanwhile, the being who shall now be known as Eve was wandering aimlessly. This was not how it was meant to be, or so her instincts told her.

Now what would she do? That thought process was put to a halt as she heard loud footsteps.

Then a blast of green energy hit her in the leg.

She let out a cry as the beings in black armor surrounded her.

"Radio command, tell them we have the package." one said. Another nodded and began to transmit.

Eve curled up into a ball and awaited to be taken back to the godforsaken laboratory she had known for most of her "life".

But fate intervened, as not just one but two, then five Albino Radscorpions arrived on the scene and began killing off the Enclave troops.

Then a being in brown robes stepped out.

"Enough. Let a few live to tell of this incident... and their mistake in allowing me freedom." the massive scorpions ran off and the robed being walked over to Eve.

He extended a hand. "Do not worry. The burn will heal quickly; Deathclaws are quite resilient." he chuckled sadistically and added, "I know from experience."

She took his hand and felt it. The fingers were jointed differently; he had two thumbs and two true fingers of the same length, and they were hard and slick, like the exoskeleton of a...

"Now you see. I am like you. Come with me and I will explain it all." She nodded and he led her off.

* * *

Richard awoke the next day feeling like shit.

He regretted his decision to exile the poor girl, and decided to head out alone to find her.

He had began searching nearby landmarks.

His search was fruitless. Then he found the bodies of dozens of Enclave troopers.

"What happened here?" He checked the wounds on the bodies. They consisted of the traits of...

"Radscorpions? No... Albinos. But why would an albino attack them?"

He then saw the answer: multiple imprints in the dirt.

"My God... at least three of those monsters..." Then came the real kicker- "These footprints... two toes, pointed... odd."

He suspected strange armor. He had no idea how right he was.

* * *

Eve had passed out halfway to her current location. She immediately jumped up and snarled.

"Halt your rage, sister. I have brought you to the once-great city of Rockopolis, now home to myself and a large population of Albino Radscorpions that are loyal to me."

The being was not wearing his full robes now, only a shirt that had sleeves torn and bound to his arms with bandages about elbow length and pants that were bound just above the knees by bandages. Around his waist there was a cloth belt of sorts. He had shoulder length brown hair and, ironically, tanned skin. His forearms, hands, calves, and feet were all shiny and had a pearly white-pink color to them, and the joints connecting them to human flesh were made of the same material as that of an Albino's. His eyes were solid red, and he had a third eye on his forehead. To top it off, he had a tail tipped with a stinger.

"I am another like you, little sister, created from the genes of an Albino Radscorpion and the body of a human. I know you cannot speak. This is unfortunate. But I can help you. The first step is to trust me. What is your name, little sister?"

She made a noise.

"What?"

"E-..."

"Good!"

"Eee-vuh!"

"Great! My name is Judas. Can you say that?"

"Juh...Joo-dahs..."

"Excelent! Well done Eve. Now, let's begin with standard English..."

* * *

During their little phonics lesson, Richard had followed the trail of footprints to the cave.

"Wait... the legendary city of Rockopolis? What the-!"

He saw an Albino Radscorpion.

"Dammit..." He had packed light, and didn't have any of his power weapons.

The giant bug charged him. He began backing away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Judas received word of this.

"Tell him not to attack the man!"

Eve had managed to use her new-found yet limited vocabulary and some charades to explain her experiences up till then. He knew this was the man she had spoken of, "the man in the glowing armor"

and wanted to stop him from getting killed.

"Come on!" He motioned Eve to follow him.

The two ran outside and saw Rich in peril.

"Halt! He is not the enemy! Stand down lest you wish to loose your stinger!"

The bug halted and stood aside.

"I assume you are 'the man in glowing armor' Eve spoke of?"

Rich turned to the strange man.

"Oh fun. Another one. For the record, I don't like bugs. Especially giant red-eyed ones who try to kill me!"

"I am not very fond of purebloods either, but I am not attacking your kind!" The two men got in one another's faces.

"You wanna go stinger boy?"

"Anytime pureblood!" Richard growled and Judas let out a hissing noise.

"I'll tear that tail off and shove it up your ass!" Rich yelled as the two circled.

"Try it when you're on the ground with my venom in your blood!" Judas fumed.

The two were about to rush one another, when Eve let out a monstrous roar.

"STOP!"

Her eyes were feral and her claws were extended. She entered a stance the men knew all too well.

"New problem: psycho Deathclaw chick."said Rich.

"Agreed." said a panicked Judas. She ran at them at an incredible speed.

"Hey bug boy, some help would be nice!"

"I can't. Not against a sister."

"What?"

"We're alike. Are you blind, pureblood?"

"Fine... then maybe I can scare her." He pulled out the one weapon he knew would make her hesitate: The Deathclaw Gauntlet.

"You see this, Eve? I made this from objects I found, including one hand of a Deathclaw I tore off myself! And to keep it in repair, I have made many more! I'm warning you, Deathclaws pose no threat to me!"

Eve turned her attention to him exclusively.

"Fuck..."

He blocked her first strike, grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back... but forgot about her tail, which slammed him to the ground.

"Ow... I forgot. Close combat with a Deathclaw: bad idea."

She then turned to Judas.

"I do not wish to harm you sister, but I-!"

He stopped as Eve fell to her knees.

"But if I need to take one on, I like to have one of these!" He held a dart gun in his hand. In Eve's leg was a bright red dart.

"I use a deluded formula based in Radscorpion poison, but weakened to a simple paralyzing concoction. It should run its course in a few hours."

Rich stood up and walked slowly over to Eve.

"Now will you just calm down?"

She growled at him again.

"I guess not..." He threw her over his shoulder, kicking and screaming.

Well, just screaming, seeing as her legs were immobile.

"Ugh... she looks so light. Guess I better get her home. Thanks, bugboy."

Judas smirked. "Not a problem, pureblood. And I shall instruct the others not to harm you."

Rich grinned behind the helmet over his face. "I'll tell Fawkes not to attack them then."

Judas cocked his head. "Who?"

"Oh you'll know him when you see him..."

* * *

Soon Eve had fallen unconscious, and her limp body bumped into Richard's armor. He had to turn off the electrical field to carry her, so the Enclave and Talon Company Mercs were issues.

He thought about calling in aid from the Brotherhood on his PIPboy radio, but squandered the thought.

He would have to hope that nothing-or anybody- would attack-

He face palmed. The sounds of taunts by Raiders sounded.

Those simpletons were ruthless savages, killing without mercy... and for fun.

The bullets started flying and Rich took cover behind a nearby rock... until a frag grenade landed next to him. He grabbed it, threw it back, and shielded Eve with his body. There was a pulpy noise as a body exploded, launching an assault rifle next to him.

"Perfect." He grabbed the gun, made sure it was in decent repair, and lept out from behind the rock.

His armor sparked to life and he opened fire, using his PIPboy's V.A.T.S. To conserve ammo. He soon ran out, leaving five of the mutilators alive.

He threw the empty firearm to the ground.

"I can't stand you. You make me sick. So..." He drew his Gauntlet. "I'll show you what mutilation REALLY is!"

He held his ground, until he got hit over the head with a sledgehammer. The vibrations reverberated through his helmet and he fell to the ground, dizzy and deafened.

A foot pinned his gauntlet-covered hand to the ground. The heel dug in and he grimaced in pain.

Despite what GNR DJ Three Dog called him, "The Messiah of the wastes," he was not immortal.

He heard the latches on his helmet click and hiss as the armor depressurized. He saw a .32 handgun pointed in his face.

"Time to say goodnight, goody- two shoes!" laughed a male Raider.

He closed his eyes and prepared for his fate.

* * *

Eve opened her eyes. She noticed she could feel her legs again!

"...to say goodnight, goody two-shoes!"

She peeked over the rock she was behind... and saw Richard about to be executed. Something inside her head kicked in and she entered the same state as she had before.

She slowly stepped out from behind the rock and snarled. This got the attention of the other raiders.

"Ey' look! It's his mutant freak of a girlfriend!"

Richards eyes widened.

'Eve... No!'

She entered standard "Deathclaw Fighting" stance. The Raiders didn't catch on.

"Bring her down."

Richard smirked. "You're a fool."

The leader, who was holding the gun, looked at him. "Wazzat?"

"You see, she's... special. You'll see."

"Whatever." the raider looked to his followers. "Let's get on with it!"

Two approached the girl... and fell victim to her claws.

"What the-?"

"You don't recognize that stance? That belongs to a beast everyone in the Wastes knows."

"W-wait... a-a-!"

"Yes. A Deathclaw." In one swift move the two had swapped positions.

"You needed more focus on me." Richard smirked. "Goodbye."

He pulled the trigger and put a .32 round in between the eyes of the Raider.

"Done and done." He then proceeded in the task of cutting off his finger.

He had no godly idea what the Regulators did with them, but it put caps in his pocket. Of course, he forgot all about Eve... who was quickly approaching him.

He turned when he heard the footsteps, and almost put four rounds into her.

"Shit!" He ducked her attack and rolled to the left.

He put as much weight as he could onto her tail and twisted her arms behind her back.

" Why do I gotta be the nice guy?"

She snarled at him. "This'll only hurt for a second..." He pulled his head back and slammed it into the back of hers.

She fell unconscious yet again.

" Halfway home..."

He slung her over his shoulder and continued his hike.

* * *

END CHAPTER 1

Hope you all enjoyed the revised, easier to read Chapter 1 of Project: EVE!


	2. The Mad Scientist

Chapter 2

The Mad Scientist

Once Richard and Eve returned, Rich told Fawkes to give Eve something to do while he "Did some research," which meant that he would be testing chemicals at his lab station.

In particular, he hoped to find the base of the FEV from the modified version he had been given by the "late" President John Eden... and create a synthetic version, one that worked just like the original.

Fawkes had called him "Mad," but Richard ignored the Super Mutant.

He took the notes on what had become "Project: E.V.E." and put them in the computer he had salvaged from another Enclave Outpost.

As the chemical readout for the Original FEV came onscreen, he began analysis on the Modified FEV.

Once it was done, he began to isolate the single strain that killed off Mutants and Ghouls.

* * *

In a week, he finished and then began boiling down the Modified FEV to successfully separate the "ill" gene, which he labeled " POISONUS TO MUTANTS AND GHOULS" and sealed the formula in a wall safe, another item he salvaged and installed himself.

He looked at the green liquid in the vial he held. He labeled that one, "BIOHAZARD" and locked it up too.

He took off his gas mask and gloves, and walked over to his two companions.

"Fawkes. Let's talk. Eve, stay here." She crossed her arms.

"Fine. But you had better not be gone too long, or I'm coming after you." In time he had been at work, Fawkes had been teaching Eve more English, and she had become quite articulate.

"We may be gone for a day or longer, but trust me, you NEED to stay here. Understand?" She sighed and nodded.

"Good."

* * *

He and Fawkes left and began walking east.

"May I inquire our destination, my friend?" asked the large Meta Human.

"You may. It is Old Olney, where I hope to acquire a Deathclaw Egg." Fawkes was shocked.

"Do you hear yourself? You ARE mad!"

"Perhaps. But those reports spoke of talking Deathclaws. _Talking Deathclaws _Fawkes! Some as intelligent as you or I!"

"So they were allied with the Enclave?"

Richard smirked. "For a bit, yes. But they had morals, and, after a slaughter at a vault, realized their mistake and they rebelled."

"That's why they began using those strange devices!" Fawkes said in realization.

"Exactly. They wanted obedient, powerful troops, but not too smart so as to rebel. If we can perhaps expose an egg to FEV early on, perhaps we can use it to our advantage."

"But how will you raise one? No one has the experience to-!" He stopped. "No. We have already seen what happens when she accesses her instincts..."

"But don't you see Fawkes? This would be a great weapon against the Enclave! A smart, thinking Deathclaw! Can't you see it!"

Fawkes stopped walking. "No. I CAN see it doing the same to us as the others did to the Enclave."

Rich chuckled more evilly than Fawkes had ever heard.

"Maybe... but I doubt it. If you want to stay here, do so. I'm going. Deathclaws are nothing to me. A little laser fire and they burn. And, if all goes to hell, I have Nuka- Grenades. Besides, Eve shouldn't get bored."

Fawkes turned. "Very well. But I will have her look for you in 36 hours."

"See you then." The two parted ways.

* * *

Richard's first stop was the Citadel. He certainly couldn't keep a live Deathclaw, intelligent or not, in Megaton.

\Not enough room.

He needed space, and the Citadel would work perfectly. When he arrived, he was greeted at the gate by a Brotherhood Of Steel Knight.

"Hail."

"Hail. Might you know if Sentinel Lyons is here?"

"Yeah, she's in."

"Good."

He entered the building and walked to the A Ring. He soon ran into the blonde.

"Oh, it's you. What do you need?"

"I might have a new weapon to fight the Enclave... with the Brotherhood's help of course."

"Hold on, let me get my father." He nodded and waited patiently as Sarah Lyons went to fetch her father, Elder of the Eastern Branch of the Brotherhood.

* * *

The two soon returned. "Sarah tells me you have a new weapon with which to fight the Enclave?"

"I will soon, if all goes well. Are you familiar with a certain," Rich smirked. "Vault 13?"

Elder Owen Lyons was shocked. "Where did you learn about that? And-?"

He stopped, seeing what Richard was getting at. "No. I will not help you create any of those monsters."

" You don't need to help me create it, I just need somewhere to keep him, and my home in Megaton barely fits poor Fawkes, let alone a 10- foot Deathclaw!"

Elder Lyons turned. "I must speak with the Council." He walked off.

* * *

"What was that about? I've never seen my father that scared." Said Sarah.

"You see,ma'm, on the west coast, about 36 years ago,Vault 13 was raided by the Enclave. With them were a large group of Deathclaws."

"With those blinders on their head?"

"No, these Deathclaws were smart. They could even talk. But they questioned the morals of their creators, and moved into the vault they had helped raid. They live there today, thanks to a person known as "The Chosen One" or so I read in an Enclave computer at the little get-together I crashed the other day. I also found 'someone' to handle raising the Deathclaw. But you'll get the full briefing later."

"And you hope to create one of these... talking Deathclaws?"

"Yes. But I've done the research. All I need to do is use the pure FEV I extracted from the modified version Eden gave me."

"The council will see you now. Come and state your plan." this came from Elder Lyons, who ushered him into the Council chamber.

* * *

Richard stood in front of them and told them his plan.

"...and so all it will need is some living space. And you just have to make sure it stays INSIDE the Citadel. I'll deal with daily feedings, and proper rearing of the creature. Oh, and I'll be getting the egg single-handed... unless I can get some volunteers.

"And believe me, I can make the creature tougher, faster, stronger, and much more intelligent then the average Deathclaw. I'm hoping to get a female, as they tend to meet my previous description, although were it male, it could breed with standard Deathclaws and produce 'smart' offspring."

The council looked at him like he was insane.

Richard continued. "Without Liberty Prime, we could use more power, wouldn't you say? And I have a plan to increase growth rate until a certain 'age', using a different variant of FEV I've concocted."

"The council will now discuss this matter. You are excused."

"Understood."

* * *

Richard walked outside and waited about two minutes before the door opened.

"You plan has been approved. But we forbid you to bring more than one of those Eggs here. Also, you have some volunteers. Paladin Tristan, Sentinel Lyons, and Star Paladin Cross will be accompanying you." The three walked up to him.

"You did one hell of a job with that Adams Air Force Base business, and you've gone in those tunnels alone and come back in one piece. I'll back you up."said Paladin Tristan with a smirk.

"You have done many things that would have made your father proud. How could I say no to a chance to help you?" this was Cross.

"And of course, I missed out on all the action back at the Air Force Base, so I need a dangerous Op like this to get back in the saddle." added Sentinel Lyons.

"Perfect. We need to leave at once, as the hike will be tremendous. Also, please refrain from shooting Albino Radscorpions. That you'll have to trust me on."

The three shrugged and walked off to get their things. He wore his Tesla Armor and his Winterized Power Helmet, both at full repair thanks to the Alien Epoxy he had snatched off the massive alien Mothership, designation Zeta that now sat in high orbit above earth.

He walked to the exit of the citadel and was soon joined by the other armored humans.

"Alright. We go to Olney, get the egg, and get out."

* * *

Meanwhile, Fawkes and Eve were becoming quite bored, having nothing to do but play chess with a set Richard had recovered.

Being the more intelligent and patient of the two, Fawkes had won every game.

"Are you sure you shouldn't have gone with him? Just to be sure?" She leaned the chair back on its hind legs.

"I will not help him create what is certain to be a disaster. As a human, he would be merely hated, but I, as a Super Mutant, would be scorned by those who trusted him just for helping. I still remember the beatings the Others would give me for my 'differences'."

Eve put the chair down and stood up. She turned and began to walk to the door.

"Wait! You were told not to leave!"

"And? If I don't, I might not see daylight again. I mean, if he dies, who'll tell me I can leave?"

Fawkes wasn't too pleased with her new defiant streak, but had to agree.

"Very well," he hefted his Gatling Laser onto his back. " I shall come with you. He risked his life to save mine, I shall do the same for him."

Eve smirked. "Good." She opened the door and squinted at the sunlight. "Can't see how you adapted to this light so quickly after leaving Vault 87 the first time." Fawkes shrugged and the two began the hike to Old Olney.

* * *

While they had made their way to the ruined town, Richard and company had run into an Albino. Judas had told them he had a mental link to the massive bugs, and so he spoke to it.

"Judas, this is Rich. I need you to see if your scorpions can't dig a tunnel into the Olney Underground. Maybe not from your faction's main nests, but soon, so I can get some backup. If you come, I'll fill you in." His comrades looked at him as if he had gone insane.

"No, I didn't call the scorpion Judas. That's the name of... Hold on." The arachnid made a series of noises.

"Judas, I can't understand this thing, now tell it to make a motion in the affirmative of negative!" It made an angry noise and Richard put his hand on his rifle. Then it made a bowing motion.

"You'll come too, right?" The same bowing motion was made.

"Good. How about this thing accompanies us?" After a pause, there was a bowing motion. "Good. We need all the help we can get." He turned to his traveling companions and sighed. "Come on, we need to get this over with. Oh,"

he reached into his gear and removed three Dart Guns. The canisters were all labeled with a "Zzz" written on some tape.

* * *

"We subdue the deathclaws. If we kill the hatchling's parents, it would surely turn on us. This will knock a Deathclaw out for twelve hours, hopefully long enough for us to escape unharmed."

He then turned to the giant bug next to them. "As for you, I don't care if it kills you. Do as you wish." The arachnid hissed at him.

He checked his PIP boy watch. It read 13:22, 1:22 PM. "We're making good time, so let's continue."

Soon they encountered their first deathclaw. Richard leveled his dart gun and fired a dart. The beast went down. He slowly crept up to it and checked for a pulse. It was slow, but there.

"The compound is safe. Come on, I know a way in." He lead the group to a small opening, downing deathclaws all the way.

"Go meet up with the others." He turned to the massive scorpion and said.

The bug seemed glad to be away from him.

* * *

Richard led the other humans through the hole in the destroyed building. Almost immediately they were greeted by claws and growls. The monsters were quickly subdued.

"This manhole," Rich said, "leads to Olney Powerworks, a faster way into the nests. That, and the Deathclaws don't venture into the powerworks. Don't know why."

He climbed down the ladder and motioned the others down. They entered a tight "delta" formation, with him in the lead. Soon they arrived at a metal door.

"Alright. This is it. Let's-!" Before he could finish his sentence, the door opened... revealing a very angry deathclaw.

"Shit! I forgot they can open doors!" He hip fired a dart... and the creature fell on top of him.

"Gah! Get... it off!" He was pushing on the collapsed creature. The other humans helped get it off of him.

"There. Let's go."

* * *

Sarah Lyons stopped him. "You 'forgot' they can open doors? Isn't that kind of important?"

He sighed. "Look, just lay off ma'am. With all due respect, I've dealt with more of these than you could count, and took out all of the Behemoths in the wastes alone... aside from the one at GNR." He shrugged her hand off and continued onward.

They put down a few more before reaching the nests.

"There. Now cover me while I extract the egg." He began digging out egg from the substance it was buried in.

Then the Mother arrived.

She backhanded Richard away from the eggs.

"Oof!" Then ten more males, including one which he assumed was the Alpha male, judging from its size, joined her.

"Shit!" The beasts began to surround the humans, slowly closing in...

* * *

Meanwhile, two separate forces had been invading the ruined city. Judas led the albino Radscorpions underground, into the chamber where the nests resided.

Their numbers were small, about six, but Judas figured that his forces could easily overpower the Deathclaws.

Simultaneously, Fawkes and Eve had entered through the sewers. They were close to Richard's position, and Eve's inhuman hearing picked up Richard's audible grunt of pain. She turned to Fawkes.

"He's in trouble. Come on!" She broke into a sprint, forcing Fawkes to struggle to keep up.

* * *

Richard cursed under his breath. 'I was so CLOSE!' He slowly stood. "Get out of here." He looked at the other humans.

"What?"

"They'll let you go. It's me they want." He then turned to the Alpha Male.

"Let them go. I'm the one you want, right?" He prayed they'd understand at least that much.

The deathclaw grunted and the circle opened behind the BoS members. They slowly walked away. Richard closed his eyes and prepared to be torn to bits...

… Then all hell broke loose. A nearby wall collapsed, revealing Judas and the Radscorpions.

"Attack them!" The mammoth bugs charged the giant lizards and they engaged in battle something akin to a Japanese monster flick.

But the Mother didn't forget Rich.

Then Eve intervened.

"Back off, bitch," Eve exclaimed using some of the "vocabulary" she had picked up from Richard, and grappled with the Mother deathclaw.

Fawkes followed soon after and fired up his Gatling laser, aiming carefully so as not to hit the Radscorpions.

"W-wait! Fawkes! Don't kill them!" Fawkes shrugged and stopped firing. Wounded and beaten, the males limped away.

* * *

Richard felt a chill go down his spine when he saw the massive arachnids. Part because of how many he had fought, and part due to his Arachnophobia.

His attention then turned to the blur that shot past his vision. It turned out to be Eve, slung like a rag doll into a chain link fence. She groaned and rubbed her head. The Mother moved in for the kill, raised her arms, began to bring them down...

but found them stopped by Richard. He had the creature's wrists locked in his hands.

"I didn't want to harm you, but now? Now I'm thinking of mounting your head on my wall." He spread his legs further to brace himself as the Mother roared in defiance and pushed against him.

He yelled a war cry and pushed back. He soon found himself thrown into the ceiling. He began to fall, but grabbed the Mother's horns and flipped onto her back. He wrapped one arm around her neck and held on for dear life. She clawed at him like mad, until she finally got a hit on his side.

It was a glancing blow, but blood flowed from a wound. He hissed and started punching the beast in the face with his free hand. He finally was able to knock the creature unconscious.

He gripped at his side as Judas and Fawkes ran over to him.

"I knew it! I knew you were mad! That insanity proved it!" Exclaimed Fawkes.

"Are you going to be alright, pureblood?" Richard winced, but managed a smirk and gave a thumbs up.

"Never better." He hacked up blood.

"My friend, I have seen you better. You need-!" Richard fell over.

"Pureblood!" "Richard!" the two cried in unison. He coughed up more blood.

"Here." He handed a metal canister he had slung over his shoulder to Judas. "When... When Eve comes to her senses, have her take an egg... and put it inside this. And tell her to be careful." His eyes fluttered. "I'd have one of you do it, but no offense, neither of you have very... dexterous hands."

Judas looked at his hands. He had to agree, he wasn't pleased to have these "claws" either.

Fawkes understood well. His own hands were massive and blunt.

Then Richard's eyes shut. Fawkes checked for a pulse. It was there... but weak. Fawkes hefted Richard over his shoulder.

* * *

While all this was going on, the Brotherhood of Steel troops had called for the Vertibird to come and pick them up. When it arrived, the three BoS members began to get in, when Sarah Lyons received a radio transmision...

* * *

"...Hello? This is Fawkes. You might remember me as an associate of Richard's. We have the situation under control, but he is injured and in need immediate medical attention. If anyone can hear this, please respond." Fawkes clicked off the radio. He soon got a response.

"This is Sentinel Lyons of The Brotherhood of Steel. We were just about to take off. Get him above ground as soon as possible. Understood?" Fawkes clicked the radio.

"Understood. Meet us just outside the city limits."

"Alright. Lyons out." Fawkes turned to the two rebellious experiments and walked over to Judas.

"Can you get your scorpions to dig a shortcut to the edge of Old Olney?" Judas nodded, and made a disturbing series of clicking noises. The scorpions began to tunnel. Fawkes turned to Eve.

"Are you almost done?" She shushed him.

"I'm trying to determine which is closest to hatching." She paused and listened, then picked out an egg. "That one. He's the closest."

Fawkes cocked his head. "He?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. He's the one. The largest one of the bunch. I'm guessing..." she paused. "Next in line to be Alpha Male?"

Judas sniggered. "So it's a personal preference?"

She punched him in his shoulder and he winced.

"Ow! Alright! You needn't hit me!" She carefully extracted the egg and put in inside the container. She closed it and it sealed with a hiss.

"Besides that," she began. "I'm more human than deathclaw anyway!" She gingerly slid the strap over her shoulder, keeping the egg right side up.

Judas's eyes seemed to dull for a second, then the shine returned.

"They say that the tunnel is complete. We should make haste." The other two nodded and they began to hike out.

* * *

END CHAPTER II

Hope you enjoyed the revised, reformatted version of Chapter II!

I'm also making minor edits here and there, to improve the story overall.

For instance, Richard originally mentioned cutting their hands off for weapons, then contradicted that with the sleeping darts.

Fix'd.

I'm gonna keep my little shout-out to "The Vault"...

"I should give a bit of credit to the good people at The Vault, the Fallout Wiki. Got info on Deathclaw social structure and breeding there, as well as a pic of a "Deathclaw Matriarch/Mother". They're big, mad, and strong. Like a Deathclaw PMS'ing 24/7. Scary, no? Thankfully, Eve _is _actually more human than Deathclaw.

And by the way, did you know that Emperor Scorpions give birth to live young? Did you know Radscorpions are mutated from Emperor Scorpions? Did you know I actually played Fallout 3 and tested the route that our escapaders took?" -PimpedOutToast, Project Eve, chapter II (original Ver.)

Yeah I just quoted my self. Whatcha gonna do?


	3. Out of The Toaster

**DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it from Fallout cannon, it's not mine.**

Chapter 3

Out of the Toaster...

When the three reached the surface, they hurried to meet the BoS members.

"I am glad you were timely in getting here. He is in very bad shape." Fawkes commented as the group walked to the vertibird.

They all crammed into the vehicle, with Eve and Judas having to stand due to their tails.

Soon the group arrived back at the citadel, and Richard was hurriedly taken to the medical wing, while Eve was lead to the prepared area.

Judas had many a strange look directed at him, and he hissed at those who sent them, while Fawkes tolerated, quite calmly, the glares of distrust shot at him as they loitered in the main courtyard.

Then an initiate walked over to Judas. The master of scorpions "rolled" his shining blood red eyes.

"So what are you supposed to be, eh? Some sort of new Enclave weapon?" Judas grabbed the young man and threw him to the floor. He placed a "foot" on the initiate's chest.

"Do not associate me with those bastards. If you knew what horrors I saw when they created me, you would have ended your own life a long time ago." He glared at the young man on the ground with his three eyes.

The initiate felt warmness in the groin of his uniform and scrambled to get up and run.

"How do you put up with these gawking fools, Fawkes?"

Fawkes chuckled. "This is paradise compared to the beatings I dealt with in Vault 87. I would rather they attack me with words which I may ignore than their fists or weapons." Judas just nodded.

He had gained a new respect for the Meta human. He closed his eyes and thought back to his previous "life" as a human...what he could remember of it anyway...

* * *

_The young man slowly opened his eyes. _

_He had been overpowered by men in black armor and taken God knows where._

_He looked around, and as his vision cleared saw horrific sights. There were creatures in some sort of tubes that looked like some of the most dangerous animals in the capital wastes... but something was horribly wrong with them. _

_They had misplaced body parts... human forearms, calves, and other portions blended in. _

_He vomited when he saw what appeared to be a giant ant queen's head on a female's body, with the added ant legs and wings, along with a large thorax from the rear. _

_He had never been good with insects. _

_The two armored men holding him dragged him to a room. Behind an energy wall was a large white scorpion, one he realized was an Albino Radscorpion._

"_Here's the specimen, Doctor." one of his captors looked at a man in a white lab coat with thinning gray hair. _

"_Good. Strap him down and we'll begin the procedure at once." The young man struggled, but eventually was strapped to a metal table. _

_The Doctor began preparing as if he were to operate. _

"_W-what are you going to do to me?" The young man struggled in vain. _

"_Simple. You," he pointed to the massive arachnid in cage, "and that, are going to become one. Hopefully, using a newer, safer procedure, won't wind up like the 'others', you know, the ones you saw on the way in?" _

_The young man held back vomit as he remembered the Ant Queen mutation. _

"_P-please! S-stop!" The Doctor patted his shoulder. _

"_If this works, you'll be stronger, faster, and more perceptive than any human ever was. This is a test in enhancing our own troops, you know. If you live, mind intact, and mutation... low, you may leave this place unopposed. "_

"_You will be monitored from a far, and the data will be sent to me, where I will improve upon the process with that data." _

_the young man knew he had to survive. Even if he wouldn't truly be 'him' anymore, he wanted to escape. _

"_A-alright. But sir, please, I beg you make me as human as possible." _

_The doctor had a straight face. _

"_That's what I aim for. Now this procedure is very... unpleasant, so you will be sedated... unless, you wish to see what's happening to you?" The young man shook his head. _

"_Good God no, sedate me!" He had a mask placed over his face... and blacked out._

* * *

_He woke up ten hours later and blinked. _

_He felt something on his forehead move when he did. He panicked and tried to get up. _

"_Easy! The procedure was a complete success... assuming you can still use common sense?" _

_The young man blinked again. He deducted from the sensation on his forehead, and the oddities in his vision... he had a third eye. _

_His vision was crisper, clearer, more vivid than before. He flexed his hand... and found his forearms and hands were rock hard on the outside, save his joints. They were a pale color, with a pinkish tint. When he saw the joints of his elbows, he thought he was bleeding at first, _

_but soon realized it was merely the joint, turned a blood red. He looked at his lower legs next. They resembled his forearms. Then he felt something protruding from his lower back and ran his hand up the side slowly. This, he thought, was a stinging tail. _

"_No..." he murmured, "My tail." He realized he had memories, instincts that weren't his._

"_Are you well? Any nausea? I thought you were afraid of bugs." The young man shook his head. _

"_No, just insects. Scorpions are arachnids. And everyone is scared of getting ripped to shreds by an Albino... which I guess I kind of am now." _

_The Doc smiled. "Perfect. Now, practice walking, and, once you're comfortable, I'll call an escort to take you back where we got you. Also, I'd like to thank you for your unusual cooperation in this. I'm truly sorry we had to do this, but strictly business."_

"_Oh, and your new name is 'Judas'. Don't ask me where the up-tops get these names." _

_Judas remembered that name. "The Bible. It's the name of a man from the book of the Christian faith. I found one and flipped through it. Quite an interesting work." _

_The doctor shrugged. Then, the door opened revealing two men in black armor. _

"_We're here for Project Judas." _

"_Here he is." Judas tensed at the sight of the men in black armor. He let out an inhuman hiss. The troops leveled their weapons. _

"_No you imbeciles! He's acting on instinct." _

_Judas slowly calmed as they holstered their weapons. Judas turned to the doctor. _

"_Before I go... how lethal is my venom?" He was merely curious as to what level to which he could defend himself. _

"_Depending on the target, it can vary from a mild tingling to a severe burning sensation. If you were expecting more, I apologize. The procedure deluded the venom." _

_Judas shrugged and was escorted to a vertiberd, that dropped him off near the cave of Rockopolis. Meanwhile, the Doctor received information on the next subject: Project EVE._

* * *

Soon Sarah arrived and told them that Richard was going to be all right, and was in fact conscious. The two went and opened the door to the infirmary.

"I heard you were feeling better, pureblood."

Richard smirked. "Come on, I've been in worse situations that this."

Fawkes nodded. "True, but very few."

Richard shot up and winced.

The Mr. Gutsy known as Sawbones chided him.

"It's advised you not make sudden movements, unless you want your wound to re-open."

Rich let out an exasperated sigh.

"Fine." He looked at Judas. "Where's Eve? Did she get the egg?"

Judas nodded. "But she can't get the container open."

Richard slowly got up this time. "Take me to her."

Sawbones placed a claw on his shoulder. "Certainly not! I was commanded to-!"

"Engage override program delta tango five." The machine removed his claw and Richard walked off behind Judas.

They soon arrived at the room where Eve was. Rich looked in the window, which was distorted by the stained glass design, and saw her looking worriedly at the egg in its sealed containment unit.

Richard opened the door and Eve's head turned.

"You're awake? Good! Come on!" She grabbed his wrist and, with surprising strength, dragged him to the container. "It won't open! And if it hatches, he'll suffocate!"

Richard picked up the container and checked a light on the side. It was green. "I used a sealed environment to release the FEV in gaseous form, mixed with oxygen to keep it alive."

Richard was cut off by Eve.

"You leave. Now. I can handle this."

Richard shrugged his shoulders and walked out. He overheard a radio broadcast on the ever popular GNR radio station.

"… he crazy? Not only that, but I heard he went in with some of our friends from the Brotherhood, a super mutant, and some sort of lizard girl! Now if that isn't news, I don't know what is!" then it cut to "The Adventures of Herbert "Daring" Dashwood."

Richard assumed he was speaking of his recent escapade, as was his usual report: about Richard. He figured he'd drop in and have a chat… and maybe fix his goddamn toaster so he'd stop speaking of it.

* * *

A couple dozen super mutant corpses and a lot of walking later, Rich finally arrived at GNR. He opened the doors in front and walked up the stairs to Three Dog's "studio". The disk jockey noticed him and laughed.

"Kid! It's been a while. How's it goin'?"

Richard shook the man's hand. "It's been… interesting lately." He paused. "Never mind that now. I keep hearing you have a toaster on the fritz? Or is that a joke?"

Three Dog sighed. "Nah, no joke. Let me tell ya kid, bread with butter isn't the same as a warm piece of toast in the morning."

Richard chuckled. "Well, give me a minute with it." Three Dog retrieved the device and Richard cracked it open.

"Hey! What was that for!" Three Dog exclaimed.

"Relax, I need to see the inside." He dug around in it and found the problem. "Here it is. _Someone _got jam in it." Rich threw an aggravated look at the disk jockey.

"I thought it would be faster!"

Richard sighed, quite aggravated. "I'll fix it up." He took a rag from nearby, got it wet, and began scrubbing it off. He sighed when it was done, applied some Wonderglue, sealed it up, and tested it.

"There. Now, I want you to deliver an actual LIVE broadcast. This is important; I want to make a PSA to the wastes." Three Dog walked over to a machine and hit a button.

"Hellooooo Capital Wasteland! This is Three Dog, and I have a special guest today! It's that crazy kid from Vault 101, and he has a special message for all you faithful listeners!" Three Dog passed Rich a mike.

"Thank you, Three Dog. Now, if you didn't already know better, stay away from Old Olney. It's dangerous, full of angry beasties, and there's nothing good to scav. On a side note, you may wish to arm yourselves. The Enclave might be getting reinforcements

soon, so be on your guard. And no need to get antsy; the Brotherhood is delivering water as I speak, and will continue to fight the Enclave with my help. Thank you for your time." He returned the mike.

Richard then left the DJ to his work and began his hike to The Citadel, to pick up his cohorts and check on Eve.

* * *

Judas was currently being detained due to his lashing out at an initiate earlier. Fawkes, on the other hand, was answering questions about super mutants in general, such as in patrols and behavior patterns. When Rich arrived, he was greeted by Sentinel Lyons.

"Sentinel Lyons, what's up?"

"Come with me." Richard blinked, but followed the Brotherhood member.

"What's up?" Sarah pointed to the room where Eve was.

"She says she needs you in there. I don't know why." Rich shrugged and opened the door. "Get over here and open this thing!" She pointed to the canister.

"Why?" asked Richard.

Eve was eccentric at this point. "Because it's about to hatch!"

Richard immediately began keying in commands with the small keypad on the cylindrical container.

"…and done!" the hatch hissed and steam exited as depressurized.

Eve quicky but carefully removed the egg. It soon began to wiggle around as small cracks appeared around the top area. Richard tensed, but quickly remembers that these animals imprinted and covered himself in the sheets of the bed.

He remained still until he heard the "chirping" of the creature. Eve then began cooing something to it, although his hearing was muffled by the sheet covering his head. "You can come out now."

He slowly removed the sheet. He observed the miniature deathclaw standing on the bed before his eyes. Eve stroked the creature's head and neck.

"Intriguing. It acts so… innocent. Hard to think it's so deadly." Richard stood up and stretched his arms.

"Well, I don't plan on interfering in your work, so…" He turned to walk out the door, sighed, and proceeded to retrieve Judas.

That evening, Eve returned to Megaton. When she opened the door, Richard looked up from the book he was reading. The cover read 'Frankenstien'.

"Oh hello, Eve. What are you doing here?" She yawned and proceeded to walk up the stairs… and collapse in Richard's bed.

"Eve… What do you think you're doing?"

His response was an angry, muffled yelling.

"Uh…. O-okay…" He sighed and rubbed his temples.

'She can be so irritating at times…' He continued his reading, becoming fully immersed in the fictional world bound within the backing of the book.

* * *

The next day, Richard woke up early and traveled to the Citadel before Eve. He proceeded to where the deathclaw resided. He opened the door… and was greeted with an interesting surprise. Instead of a miniature deathclaw, before him, curled under the sheets on the bed, was a young boy, about 4 or 5… that had the large, twisting horns of an alpha deathclaw and a tail defined by the shape under the bedsheets. The child had dirty blonde hair.

"What in the…" He then promptly slapped his forehead. "Of course… I forgot to wear something to keep my hair in check. I bet a strand got in there, altered the FEV even more, and…"

He growled at his own stupidity… and the strange being before him imitated, albeit in a higher tone. He looked at the child-like being before him with a confused expression.

"Incredible," Richard whispered as he cupped his chin in his hand. "It seems to have developed the ability to learn by observation!"

The toddler in front of him once again copied his actions.

"Intriguing. This denotes further study." Richard pointed at the boy. "Stay."

He quickly exited and locked the door.

'Well, if it is humanoid, I'll need to acquire some clothes.' He smirked. "And I know just where."

* * *

It took some hiking, but Richard soon arrived at Little Lamplight.

"A community of children. It shouldn't take much to get some clothing in the right size." He walked into the cave. MacCready, the mayor of the town of children, greeted Rich with a scowl.

"What do you want, mungo'?" Richard smirked. He knew how to deal with this kid.

"Why don't you shut up so I don't have to smell your butt breath and I'll tell you!" MacCready smirked.

"That's why I like you, mungo'. So, what's up?"

Richard crossed his arms. "I need clothing. Ya know, like, kid size clothing. And…" He reached into his backpack and pulled out his "wallet", a cloth sack. "I can pay generously."

He shook the sack and it jingled, evidence of the many caps inside. MacCready nodded.

"Come with me."

Richard followed. Soon, they arrived at the souvenir shop, the cave town's trading market. MacCready looked at the local merchant, Knick-Knack.

"This crazy mungo' wants to buy some clothing, except in our size." Richard made himself known.

"Uh, yeah. Let's see, I need clothing from four to as old as you carry." Knick-Knack shrugged and opened a locker.

"Take what you need… at 75 caps a piece." Richard cringed.

"I'll take all of them." He poured a large pile of caps, and counted out the number required before returning the remainder to his sack. The two children looked at him wide-eyed.

"What? It's called managing one's finances wisely. You'll figure it out someday." He neatly folded the many articles of clothing and placed them tightly inside his backpack. "Thanks, then." Richard then began the hike back to the citadel.

* * *

When he arrived, he was greeted by Eve, who was in a state of complete disarray.

"What in the hell, Richie?"

Richard jumped. "Three things. First, don't call me that. Second, you almost gave me a heart attack. Third, if you're spazzing about what I think, I can explain… it's just you probably wouldn't understand me."

Eve crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "Try me."

Richard inhaled deeply. "It would appear that the mutagen agent was altered further by an outside source, thus further altering the DNA structure of the deathclaw chick, causing this strange mutation. That, combined with FEV's general overall instability, led to the unpredictable results I was, ironically, expecting." He caught his breath.

"So you're saying you fucked up."

Richard let out an exasperated sigh.

"Not necessarily. It seems only time will tell whether this experiment will turn out as planned. In fact, it's liable to go even better than I predicted. Just one thing. You, and I cannot be seen together with it."

Eve raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And why not?"

Richard stared at her with a stupefied expression. "Well, considering he looks a bit like you, and a bit like me, people might get… ideas."

Eve blushed. "O-oh. I-I get it now."

Richard walked past her and proceeded to the room where his creation of sorts resided. He went in and closed the door behind him. He reached into his backpack and retrieved some clothing. "Here." He threw the clothing onto the deathclaw hybrid. It hung comically off its horns.

"Uhh… that's right, lead by example… it learns via imitation…" He then wound up with the same clothing he had thrown at the small child in his face. "Mghph!"

Richard groaned. "No, no. You need to put _on_ the clothes."

He once again gave the child the garments. It was quite obvious he had no experience at the task he was attempting. 'Oh the bitter irony. I can wrestle the egg from the Mother, but I can't even get this thing to wear clothes." At this point the strange being before Richard had managed to get the legs of the pants it was given onto its head, the horns filling them in.

"No! That's not how you put those on!" In frustration over the child's naivety, he took the pants and forcefully shoved the young being into them.

"There. They go on like that." Then the child bit poor Richard's arm.

Now, in any other situation, the young man would have held back the curses. In this situation however, he couldn't help but scream a most horrible thing:

"-CHRIST!"

In an accent very similar to his father's, one which he didn't even know he had. This got the attention of everyone within earshot, including Eve, who practically smashed the door in.

"What?"

Richard was grasping his arm. "That little fucker bit me! And, just my luck, he has a deathclaw's choppers." His eyes were wide and his brow furrowed in rage, while still unconsciously speaking with the same accent. The blood ran down his arm from the wound.

The child was confused. It had just done what came to mind. It made an odd noise that silenced Richard and Eve, who was trying to restrain him.

"Myrr?" The two stopped, looked at the child, and blinked.

Simultaneously, they said "Huh?" Richard turned fully to face the small being of his own design. "Eh? Did it just…uh, say something?"

Eve shrugged. "It was more of a noise than saying something."

Suddenly, Richard forgot about the pain that gripped his right forearm.

"It sounds so… pitiful." He reached into his backpack and found his medical case-where he stored anything medical that was fragile- and took out a syringe filled with a deep red liquid.

"There, this Med-X should deal with the pain temporarily." He locked up the case and stowed it back away. Soon, the pain in his arm resided, and he sighed. 'This is going to be fun...'

* * *

END CHAPTER III

Yes well I made some more edits here and there as well.

Changing a few things here and there including, what someone pointed out, Al's ability to use a word he hadn't heard.

This will change minor things in the next one or two chapters, although Al will still refer to Richard as "Father" sometimes, having learned the word later on.

Yeah so I hope this is easier on the eyes than before.


	4. Parental Advisory

Chapter 4

Parental Advisory

Richard sighed and walked out of the room.

He heard a long droning cry from the room. 'This isn't happening. This is just a nightmare, and I'll wake up soon.'

Then he heard the door being bumped. Then the noise got louder and louder. Richard's eyes grew wide as he heard the sound of wood cracking.

"Sweet Jesus…"

Then the door gave way and hit the floor. The small hybrid had _knocked the door off its hinges. _Richard was frozen in shock.

"…"

Eve Looked over the shoulder of the miniature deathclaw boy and whistled.

"That's something else. Well, you got your supersoldier." Richard sighed.

"Well, I guess it needs a name." He thought for a minute, then said the first, most generic name he could think of. "Alphonse. You know, because he's part alpha deathclaw?"

Eve rolled her eyes. "That is the dumbest name I've ever-!"

"A…al…" The young being began to repeat the word he had just heard come from Richard's mouth. Richard put his hand on his chin as the boy struggled to repeat the words of his creator.

"It's intelligence is above the norm. At least that part is as planned."

"Aaaaalphooonzzzzeee." Alphonse had already almost mastered his own name.

Eve had a bit of a scowl on her face and was glaring at Richard.

"What?" Richard was unsure of what he had done to infuriate her.

"Quit calling _him _an 'it'!"

Richard leaned against the wall. "Because if I refer to IT like a person, I might get attached, and that would negate the entire purpose of making a weapon out of it in the first place. In fact, I-!"

"Alphonse!"

Richard blinked in surprise. "I-it actually said its name…" Richard's ice cube opinion on Alphonse suddenly melted, his kind-natured personality, shining through. "You're right, Eve. Treating him like some sort of animal would just lead to disaster."

Richard got down on his knees and got on eye level with Alphonse. "That was good, Alphonse. Now, come with me."

This was going to be diffcult...

After a few attempts, Alphonse finally managed to pronounce Richard's name in proper. Sentinel Lyons soon arrived in response to the sound of the door crashing down.

"What's with all the- eh?" She noticed Alphonse.

"S-sentinel Lyons! I'll explain the it all in the report. It'll be on your front desk first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

Judas stood next to an albino scorpion. "You smell it too right? Something's coming. Something big."

The monstrous being clacked its claws and hissed.

"Yeah… it's a deathclaw. Oddly though, I sense no hostility."

The scorpion shuddered in anticipation.

"Let it come. I shall retrieve our friend Eve and see if she can find out what it is doing in our territory."

The Scorpion hissed loudly and Judas kicked it in the side. "Don't. Attack. It."

The scorpion lowered its tail and bowed. '_Yesss… My king…_"

Judas began a full speed sprint to the Citadel.

When he arrived he ran into poor little Alphonse. "Gah! Watch where you are going, you little-!" He then noticed that Alphonse was, in fact, not human.

"What the-!"

"Alphy! What did I say? You can't just stand in one place like that!" Richard ran over to Judas. "Sorry. He'll be less of a handful in a few days, once the growth acceleration process ends. What do you need?"

"Eve. Now." The hybrid-in-question appeared around the corner.

"Judas? What's up?" He grabbed her arm.

"You're preventing a war between the local deathclaws and my Albinos." The two took off at inhuman speeds towards Rockopolis.

* * *

Meanwhile the two monstrosities stared each other down, both tense. Soon, Eve and Judas arrived. The deathclaw immediately looked at Eve.

"Eh… I don't like this…" The two then realized that this deathclaw was shorter than Judas; it was just a baby.

"_Mommy?"_ It sniffed Eve.

"Eh? I'm not your-!" Her mind flashed to memories, memories not her own…. Those of the Mother Deathclaw that was a part of the experiment that made her what she was now…

* * *

_The mother deathclaw had just laid her first clutch of eggs as pack mother. She was young, but had been born into this role._

_She proceeded to leave the eggs to the Alpha deathclaw. He would fertilize them, they would hatch, and she would care for them until they grew old enough to fend for themselves. _

_Then the Dark Ones arrived. The defeated the entire pack with their Death Bringers and captured her._

_She woke up from sedation behind a semitransparent blue wall, staring at an attractive young woman shackled to a table, and an older man in a labcoat. The girl was screaming in horror and fighting at her shackles. The massive abomination began to panic… before being injected with a powerful sedative. Its vision went blank, its last sight the girl who would soon become cohort to the Messiah of the wastes._

* * *

"The…the mother Deathclaw that was used in making me what I am…This must be one of its offspring…"

Then the scorpion reared into an attack position.

"_My King… It isss another…"_

Judas nodded.

"Yeah… and I know this smell. It's the Alpha Deathclaw of the Deathclaw sanctuary, with two or three lessers." Judas turned to Eve.

"And he's here for attack!" Judas turned to the massive creature behind him.

"One Of Great Claws, ready an attack force; this deathclaw has invaded out territory once before, and I don't intend on another massacre like that time."

"_Of coursssse, my king" _ Eve looked at him, confused.

"They have names?" Judas shrugged his shoulders.

"More along the lines of titles based on what they are good at. That one was One Of Great Claws, know for his ability to snap a human in half with his claws."

Eve rolled her eyes. "Pleasant."

Then, over a nearby hillside appeared an enlarged set of horns, followed by the Alpha Deathclaw they were attached too.

"Get ready. I don't know how he'll react when he sees you that close to that youngling."

Eve swallowed hard.

The Alpha approached Eve at a steady pace, the other two monstrous creatures eying Judas. The massive creature sniffed Eve then snorted.

"_It smells like The Lost One, and yet also reeks of human." _Eve discreetly smelled herself.

"Reeks is a strong word, not to mention incorrect."

The youngling looked from Eve to the massive creature. "_But she smells like mother!_"

Eve began to sweat. 'I _really_ don't feel like becoming lunch…'

The alpha snorted again. "_She is not the Lost One. She smells of fear." _He turned to his comrades. "_Kill her, for I do not wish to dirty my claws with a pitiful kill like this." _

Eve's Eyes widened in fear as the other deathclaws entered their offensive stance.

* * *

Meanwhile, Richard had been trying to catch Alphonse before he wound up in the Patomic.

"Get back here!" He stopped to catch his breath.

Suddenly, so did Alphonse. He had a concerned look on his face.

"What is it, Alphy?" Alphonse looked at Richard.

"Angry lady is in trouble!" Richard was surprised.

He didn't know whether it was instinct or a sharp nose, but he decided to trust the young boy.

He also knew Eve would _not _be fond of that nickname.

"Which way?" The boy then began pointing West.

"Hold on." Richard hoisted up the boy. "Let's go."

He then proceeded to run as fast as he could in his Tesla Armor.

* * *

Eve dodged another blow from the creature she had been fighting. Judas was in the process of subduing the other deathclaw, although with minimum success.

'This is not going well at all.' Eve thought. 'Where's Richie with that gattling-!'

As if on command, a flurry of red lasers struck the deathclaw she had been fighting.

"About time!"

Richard nodded.

"Sorry, but I had to carry Alphy. That's how I knew how to find you. Boy's got quite a sniffer." Alphonse waved at Eve.

Richard proceeded to vaporize the two deathclaws one by one with his Vengeance laser.

The Alpha deathclaw heard the sounds of the lasers and smelled the charred flesh and turned around. He also smelled Alphonse, and growled.

"_The Golden Devil __**and **__another alpha? Unforgivable!" _ He got into his attack stance and charged Richard.

Now, poor Richard was clueless as to the fact he was about to get blindsided, so when the massive hand hit him and launched him back about ten feet, he was needless to say flabbergasted.

"Woah. What just hit…" He saw the massive creature approaching. "…me." He meekly finished.

His gattling laser lie in pieces on the ground where he had been standing.

"Shit…"

He rolled out of the way, but a massive claw slashed his armor, causing it to slide off. Now his only protection was his old Vault 101 Jumpsuit.

"Figures. More hand-to-hand with a deathclaw. Pleasant."

He began to backpedal, turning to run after a while. The Deathclaw caught up very quickly.

"_Time to put an end to the Golden Devil, once and for all!"_

The Alpha deathclaw began a swing, but it was stopped… by Richard.

"…It's a good thing I'm prepared. You see, after my little tango with the Mother Deathclaw of Old Olney, I figured I might as well find a solution to the problem." He held up an empty syringe. "So I developed a special steroid, A super psycho with a deathclaw twist, if you will. Using my previous research, I concocted a blend of chemicals that allow me to mimic the strength and speed of a deathclaw, with an added bonus of resilience. The trade off, however, is that it sends my adrenal glands into overtime, meaning I can't use but a small dose at a time."

The Alpha brought down its other arm, and it was similarly stopped.

"Do you feel it? The fear that all your prey, primarily humans, feel? I hope so, because you-" Richard grinned like a madman. "-are about to die."

Richard released the arms and delivered an uppercut to the monster in front of him. He followed this by several punches and kicks. The Alpha was soon on defense, only able to guard against the onslaught that was Richard. Then Richard drew his .44 Magnum revolver.

"I'll be merciful and make this quick and clean.." He place the barrel on the monstrous creature's forehead. He began to squeeze the trigger when…

"_Father!" _

the youngling rammed Richard and sent the handgun spinning into the air.

"Oof!"

The small creature stood over Richard. 'Shit I forgot about this one!' He kicked the creature in the chest and it flew backwards.

"Now I need to waste a bullet on you." He retrived his handgun, and was about to fire when…

*SLAP*

Eve slapped Richard's hand, causing him to drop the weapon.

Here eyes could almost be described as animal.

"Don't. ." Richard blinked.

Eve had just slapped his hand. Kept him from shooting what would become one of the most dangerous creatures in the wasteland.

"Why?"

"She… she doesn't need to get involved."

Richard was now severely confused.

All the time Richard had been shocked, the Alpha had recovered. It began its approach to ambush Richard, but Eve pointed the handgun at the Alpha.

"You too. Both of you are acting stupid." She sighed. "Deathclaw or human, I guess men are all stubborn." Richard and the Alpha had a similar reaction.

"Wha-?"

"_Such incsolence!" _

Richard then noticed something.

"I-It spoke!" Eve punched him in the arm.

"Idiot. It's that crazy drug you took. Of course Deathclaws communicate, just not in a language humans can understand."

"Oh."

"_Then he can understand that I wish to decorate these rocks with his entrails!" _

"Dully noted, thanks." Richard was very displeased.

Eve growled.

"Don't you get it? All that fighting brings is agony." Eve threw the revolver to Judas, who caught it with superhuman ease. She proceeded to put her arms around the young deathclaw in front of her.

"Just because I'm part human doesn't change the fact that I'm also part deathclaw, and that part cares about the safety of her offspring. In a way…" She placed her forhead against that of the youngling's. "I guess I am her mother."

Both parties were more than a little surprised.

"…well, that settles that, right big guy? Thanks for taking her off my hands." Richard shrugged his shoulders. He proceed to walk away, with Alphonse in tow. He tugged on Richard's jumpsuit.

"Where do babies come from?" Richard's expression became one of immense shock.

"Uhh… I'll explain it when you're older. Much older." The alpha placed the back of its hand in Richard's path.

"_With what she has become, I belive the pack will think of her more as food than a parent. Also, seeing as humans do not lay eggs, it would be unwise for our pack's survival. Would it not be more wise for her to be the mother for your pack instead?" _Richard and Eve looked at one another and turned a deep shade of red.

"T-that's not how humans work…" Richard managed to spit out.

"_Your species only has one mate? That does not seem like a strong plan for the survival of a species." _Richard looked away.

"W-well… Females in our society who, ehhm… 'mate' with many men are looked down upon. And I don't really know Eve well enough to call what we have a true 'relationship'…" The large creature snorted, as if dissatisfied with Richard's response.

"_Either way, she would be better off with humans, am I correct?" _ Richard sighed.

"I…Guess… but, what about that youngling? It seems rather attached to Eve." He nodded to the youngling in question, who was affectionately rubbing against Eve's arm.

"_A valid question. Perhaps you could do to her what you did to __**him.**_" The Alpha looked at Alphonse with what could only be described as a scowl.

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea. Just leave the scorpions alone, and we have a deal." The massive beast was silent before he grunted out a

"_Deal, human."_

* * *

After a long day, Richard sat in his chair, continuing the book he had began to read and started reading again. Alphonse had been discreetly moved to Megaton, and was on the floor playing with an old toy car. Eve had decided to stay at the citadel with the youngling, so it was relatively quiet. He soon sent Alphonse to bed, and relaxed. Things were finally going his way…

* * *

An enclave officer walked through metal hallways lit from below. He opened a door and saluted.

"Sir! We have unconfirmed reports of-!"

"Now, lieutenant, what have ah told you about speculatin'?"

"My apologies," The chair the powerful figure sat turned around, revealing… "President Autumn."

* * *

END CHAPTER 4

As mentioned last chapter, I edited out the "Daddy" and "Mother" parts of the story that involved Al, changing when he said "Mother is in danger" or whatever to "Angry Lady is in danger", and ommiting an entire section about the term "father".

Kept the "Where do babies come from" part because it was funny.


	5. Playing Detective

Chapter 5

Playing Detective

Morning a few days later granted Richard another surprise:

the modifications he had made to the FEV to induce accelerated growth were working a little too well, as Alphonse was now almost the size of Richard himself.

'Hmm… maybe about 16?' Alphonse's demeanor had significantly changed, as our hero soon found out.

"Is something wrong, father?" Richard shook his head.

"No, nothing at all." He sighed and turned around. "Boy, I need to talk to you. Remember yesterday?"

Alphonse thought and remembered his question. Apparently, his naevite was gone.

"Ah! T-that? Uhh…" He was blushing furiously.

"Yes. Sit down, and I'll explain it all…"

* * *

Richard had left poor Alphonse to deal with his new "knowledge", deciding to work on a new batch of his tested FEV for the youngling Eve had taken in.

This time, however, he remembered a simple hairnet.

'Don't need anymore surprises…' He did, however tweak the composition; he needed the young female to mutate similarly to Alphonse, after all.

While he toyed with his experiments, Alphonse had began to recover. He decided to read one of his "father's" books.

With all his experience (Or so Richard's ego told him) he had finished his composition within hours.

He had read some more Enclave logs, which told of the first super mutants, know as "The Master's Army". Now, Richard knew the pain of getting a shot, and wasn't interested in getting maimed by a deathclaw, so he knew he'd have to approach this whole ordeal carefully.

He took his potent chemical and sealed it inside a small glass container.

"Alright. Time to get this over with. Al!"

Alphonse looked up from his book. "Yes?"

"I'm heading to deal with our new "Friend". You coming?"

Alphonse put down his book and replied, "Oh, yeah sure."

Richard donned his Tesla Armor and chose his load out, a Tri-Beam laser rifle, a Chinese assault rifle, and his alien epoxy-repaired personal doombringer, The Vengeance.

He then tossed Al a plasma rifle and about 50 full Microfusion cells in a small case. Al was confused. "What am I supposed to do with these?"

Richard finished loading his ammo. "You're gonna learn. Paladin Gunny has offered to teach you how to shoot a gun. And you'll listen to him, no questions. Understand, Al?"

"Fine."

* * *

When they arrived, Richard sent Alphonse off to Paladin Gunny and made his way to his "Patient".

He looked at the creature before him. "Youngling" was the term he used for Deathclaws in adolescence, technically teenagers, but not yet fully grown deathclaws.

"Now Eve, you'll need to hold her down."

Eve was confused… "Why-"

…Until she saw the massive needle on the syringe.

"It needs to be able to penetrate the… uh whatever deathclaws have for skin."

Eve nodded and twisted the creature's hands behind its back...

* * *

Meanwhile, Alphonse wasn't having such a great time at the shooting range. He had yet to hit a target, although he almost melted an initiate into goo by accident.

"Let's try something a bit more... 'conventional'." Gunnny handed Alphonse a hunting rifle, and he began trying to hit the target again.

* * *

Now, Richard was a smart guy, but all the calculations in the world couldn't have prepared him for this surprise. What had taken days for Alphonse took all of ten minutes for the youngling.

This left Richard with a combination of sickness from the awful sounds made by the metamorphosis and embarrassment from the fact he was looking at a nude female who looked a bit like Eve minus two or three years, with hair that flowed almost to the back of her knees. The hybrid put her hands on her hips and looked at Richard.

"What?" Eve quickly proceeded to toss Richard outside and followed.

"YEEOOOOW!" His scream from being punched in the arm by someone with the strength of a deathclaw made heads turn.

Soon after, Eve returned to the newest mutation.

"You'll need a name..."

Richard heard this from outside the door and screamed another of his "brilliant" ideas for names. "Maria! You kno, because she's-!"

"Shut up, Richie. I don't need your-!"

"That's a nice name. I-is it mine?"

Eve sighed. 'What is it with his creations and stupid names?'

She looked at the girl in front of her. She appeared to be around 17. Eve was surprised how much Maria looked like her... She'd have to beat the answer out of Richard later.

"Yes. Now, you and I need to go over proper etiquette...

* * *

Richard sighed. He thought about how this mess began. Now he was dealing with not 1 but three half human-half deathclaws...

He decided on a name for the species. 'Chamelio Sapien.'

Then a thought came to him. What would happen when Maria met Alphonse?

"Oh god, let it be human, not deathclaw instinct..."

* * *

Eve had dug through some drawers and found a selection of clothing. Maria had chosen an oversized collared shirt, a loose skirt that went down to her knees with frills on the edges, and a pair of white, frilled socks.

She refused to wear shoes because they "were uncomfortable" to her.

The two walked out of the room to find Richard.

They found him laughing at Alphonse's inability to hit anything...

...until a .32 caliber bullet whizzed past his head.

Maria quickly approached Alphonse.

"Is it really that hard?"

Alphonse was to angry to notice who was speaking to him.

"Here, let me try!" She forcefully yanked the rifle out of his hands, shoved him over, pointed the gun at the target how Al had been doing it, and squeezed the trigger.

The round flew through the air... and right in between the eyes of the dummy.

Everyone watching was stunned, particularly gunny and Richard.

"My god... This girl's a natural!" said gunny.

Richard rubbed his eyes. "That didn't just happen. She has those hands for all of five minutes and she just... just picks up a rifle and pow! The dummy's dead!"

Maria looked at everyone. "What? D-did I do something wrong?"

Now, amidst all this awe, Alphonse had a scowl on his face. "Yeah! First you take that gun out of my hands, then you shove me?"

The two of them locked eyes and growled at each other.

"Well, look at the bright side!" Richard had a stupid grin on his face.

"What?" Eve was appalled at his statement. "They're at each others' throats! How is that good?"

Richard chuckled. "Well, they could have just started fu- OW!"

Eve hit him again. "I agree. This is better."

That was her opinion, until Alphonse extruded his claws.

"Uh... people! I'd give these two some room!"

Everone scattered as Alphonse entered the standard Deathclaw attack stance. Maria attempted to do the same... but no claws grew from her hands. 'Wha?"

Richard blushed. "Eh... I guess that must be caused by the FEV?"

Maria panicked and began to back away. She tripped and fell on her backside. She fumbled for anything that could be a weapon. Then she felt metal. She grabbed the 10mm handgun and fired a round into Alphonse's left leg.

He roared out in pain and anger as he collapsed. His claws retracted and he clutched the wound. Maria's hands were shaking. She prepared to pull the trigger again.

Richard saw this and activated his Vault Assisted Targeting System, or V.A.T.S.

Time slowed to a crawl as he quickly drew his own .44 revolver and took aim at the weapon in Maria's hands. He fired the shot and watched the bulled move in slow motion and hit the pistol, the vibration knocking the gun out of Maria's hands.

A shot zinged past Al's head.

'If I hadn't used VATS, Al might've died. She IS a good shot!' He forcefully removed the handgun from Maria.

"I'd prefer if you didn't shoot him. He's invaluable as an ally." He grabbed her arm and lifted her up. Then he turned to Alphonse.

"As for you, I don't expect you to even threaten a lady like that. I'm ashamed that you have any of my DNA."

Alponse's shoulders sagged. "…"

Richard kneeled down and looked at his leg. "As expected, the bullet didn't do much damage. Be glad."

He send Al off to see Sawbones.

Rich sighed. "Great. Now I have to referee with these two. "

He turned to Gunny. "Sorry, Gunny I-!" He stopped when he noticed the Paladin was busy admiring Maria's marksmanship.

Richard silently walked to return home.

* * *

Unfortunately, he got ambushed along the way.

'Fucking great.' He glared at the soldier who was shoving a plasma rifle into his face.

"Hello there." He looked to his right and saw an enclave officer. "I am Leutinant Robert Wyannd."

Richard smirked. "That's very nice. I might care more if I didn't have this idiot shoving a rifle in my face."

The rifle poked his forehead. "Fucker!" He growled.

"We know you have something very valuable to us. We want it back."

"What?"

"Project EVE, of course."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The rifleman hit Richard in the head with the butt of his rifle.

"Oof!"

"Don't lie. We know you took her." Richard slowly reached behind him and produced a small spray can. He whipped it out and sprayed the gas onto all the soldiers. They stumbled back and he forcibly removed the plasma rifle from the trooper before getting a distance.

Lt. Wyannd coughed. "What was that?"

Richard smirked. "Albino Radscorpion pheromones, courtesy of Judas."

The ground rumbled as the massive scorpions arrived. Richard gave a wave of his hand and ran back to the citadel.

"Problem, problem!" He screamed upon arrival.

Eve crossed her arms. "What now?"

He ran over and grabbed her hand. "Come on!"

She blushed and responded "H-hey! What are you doing?"

"It isn't safe here. The Enclave's looking for you, and they're liable to check here first, especially after I dealt with that last group."

"Wait, what?" He growled in frustration and scooped her up bridal style and began running full speed.

"H-hey!"

"Having to drag you was slowing me down!"

* * *

Soon they arrived at the only place other than the Citadel that had more guards:

GNR.

Richard set Eve down... and she punched him in the jaw.

"OW! What was that for?" She didn't answer.

"Good god, you're confusing!" He climbed up the steps and motioned Eve to follow.

He burst into the GNR studio, nearly giving Three Dog a heart attack.

"Woah! Where's the fire, kid?" Richard ignored him.

"Eve, hurry it up."

She shoved Richard over. "I'm up here already, so shut up!"

Richard slowly rose, and witnessed Three Dog doing a double take.

"Oh yeah. Eve, meet Three Dog. Three Dog, Eve." Richard ran over to the radio and began turning dials.

"Hey! What are you-!"

"Sorry, but I need to contact someone, and this is the only radio powerful enough to even possibly reach her!" He finally finished and picked up the microphone and hit record.

"This is an SOS. The Enclave is back, and She needs somewhere safe to hide. Look, I know I'm not on the...best of terms with everyone... hell, some of them hate me...But for the love of god, Amata, please respond!"

He exhaled. "This is Richard, Messiah of the Wastes speaking. This message will repeat after the tone." He released the record button.

Three Dog smirked. "Who is this "Amata" person?"

Richard blushed lightly. "Oh! When I lived in the Vault, she and I were close friends."

"She? Well now, this is getting interesting."

"Don't try and read anything into it. We'd been friends since we were little kids. That is, until the day I left." He sighed.

"When I went back to aid the vault... well, she seemed relieved to see it was me who had answered the call... but then I was kicked out again. I really hope-!"

The radio fuzzed. "Hello? Rich?"

He grabbed the microphone. "Amata? Dear god, is that you?"

"Yeah. What is this all about?" Richard explained the situation. "And so I need to know: can Eve hide out there until this blows over?"

Amata's tone changed."Hold on, just who is this 'Eve' anyway? You know, I'm not going to even consider giving your girlfriend somewhere to hide if she pissed someone off."

Richard turned red. "She's not my girlfriend- look, it's better if you see the issue yourself. Eve isn't... normal. I'll hike to the vault and you can see with the camera outside. If it still works, anyway." There was silence.

"Fine. I'll see you then."

"Thanks, Amata." He shut off the microphone and reset the broadcast system. "Come on. Eve. We're getting Fawkes and heading to Vault 101."

* * *

Outside they met Judas. "Pureblood, I have a surprise for you."

Richard sighed. "What now, Judas!"

Judas growled. "I thought you'd like to know we've captured an Enclave officer. I had him pulled from your little stunt."

Richard smirked. "Thanks. Torture him till he talks."

Judas nodded and leapt over a pile of rubble.

"Must be nice to be able to do that." He motioned Eve and they made way to the Museum of History.

* * *

Upon arrival Rich called down Fawkes and informed him of the situation.

"...So we need some extra muscle."

Fawkes nodded and readied his Gatling laser. "My friend, I am more than glad to help."

* * *

When they arrived at Vault 101 it was dark.

"Fawkes, stay out here on patrol. Don't get too close to the vault or anyone watching might find out we're here."

Fawkes nodded. "Of course. In this situation, discretion is key."

Richard opened the old wooden door to the vault's massive metal door.

* * *

Meanwhile, Judas was enjoying beating the Enclave troop senseless.

"I'll ask again, who are you working for?" The soldier coughed. "Who's you're new commander in chief?"

"A-autumn..." The soldier passed out.

"I'll have to ask Richard about this. I wonder who this 'Autumn' person is?" He sighed and ventured deeper into the caves to sleep.

* * *

END CHAPTER 5

This Revision stuff is easy!

Most of it _is formatting_, but I have some edits I make here and there.

I point them out here in case you can't tell.

I'm also removing some of the unnecessary chapters, like the notes and Q&A.

I hope you enjoy this story in in fullest, whether you're a new reader or an old one coming back to read again in preparation for the Sequel...

I'll reveal the name in the final revision!

AHAHAHA...later!


	6. A Hard Time On The Homefront

Chapter 6

A Hard Time on the Home Front

Richard looked at the gear-shaped gate to his former home.

Then he looked over to Eve. "Hey, hit that door. They should hear the echo."

Eve crossed her arms. Richard sighed.

"Fine. I'll do it." He reached for and equipped his Chinese Assault rifle.

He flipped the weapon around and slammed the metal buttstock into the door. It rang out at a loud volume.

He heard the pistons hiss and gas escape from the vault. He covered his ears as the door screeched against its frame.

"Still loud." He slung his rifle over his back and walked inside.

Then the PA clicked. "Richard? Meet me in the Overseer's office, and bring your... friend."

Richard inhaled. "Ahh, it's good to be back. I grew up in here, you know, Eve."

"Was it always such a dump?"

He looked over to her. "Two things. First, no it was not. Second, watch your mouth around here."

"Whatever."

He proceeded to the second floor and entered the massive office of the overseer.

"Well, here she is. " Richard pointed a thumb at Eve and stepped out of the doorway.

Richard didn't know what to make of the look on Amata's face.

Disgust? Horror?

Either way, Eve didn't like it.

Richard felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck. "Uh-!"

"So what's so special about this result of the outside radiation?"

Richard groaned.

Eve crossed her arms. "What was that?"

"Uh... L-ladies..." They ignored him completely.

Eve growled and extender her claws. "It is _ON_ bitch!"

Richard moved to block Eve's charge.

"Get out of the way, Richie!"

Richard narrowed his eyes. "No! I don't know what Amata considers me as now, but I still consider her a friend! So stand down now!" He drew his .44. "Or I'll MAKE you!"

Eve charged him. Rich fired... and missed. "Shit!"

He holstered the revolver and clicked a button on his PIPboy. He cringed as the screen flashed off. His irises changed to slits and he growled.

He caught Eve's strikes and threw her to the floor. She was up in an instant and screamed at him. He let out a roar that shook both females to the bone.

For Amata, it was simply cold and too minimalistic.

Eve, however knew the sound; it was the roar of an Alpha Deathclaw.

Richard growled. "Leave...her..." He grabbed Eve by the throat and threw her against the wall. "ALONE!" Eve winced; that impact had damaged something bad.

Amata was frozen. 'W-what happened to him?'

Richard kicked Eve in the side and a loud CRACK resounded through the room and Eve screamed.

"You've been nothing but trouble from day one!" He began putting pressure on her head with his boot. "I've tolerated your bullshit this long, but when you attack by best friend since I was a kid, you've crossed a line."

Eve screamed in pain as he put more force down, intent on crushing her skull.

Then he heard Amata let out a sound. He turned his head and her eyes widened.

'What am I doing?' His eyes grew wide and he passed out.

* * *

He awoke in a room very familiar to him... 'This is...' He groaned and sat up. "My head..."

"You think your head hurts?" He looked over and saw Eve.

"What happened..." He remembered Amata's face. "Where's Amata?"

"Oh, thanks for you concern. She led me here, where I put you down on that bed. I don't know what happened to her."

"What happened? The last I remember was you charging me."

"You hit some button on your Arm computer and went berserk." She rubbed her side. "It hurts here. I think you broke something."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you gave me quite a beating, Richie."

He blushed a bit. "Uh, I-I can take a look at it...But..."

"But what?" She finally got it. "N-no way!"

Richard sighed. "Fine. From the area you're pointing out I can tell it's either a broken or fractured rib. I can't tell if it caused any internal injury, however, unless I examine the wounded area. If you do have internal wounds, there's some medical equipment elsewhere I might be able to use. Also, if I can find the here, I can reprogram him to be a medical robot, like Sawbones." Richard paused.

"Doesn't that hurt when you move?" Eve nodded. "Yeah, but I can handle it."

She crossed her arms and winced.

"Don't do that! If it's broken, you could shove it into an organ, and then you'd be dead!"

She uncrossed her arms and looked away. "I-I'll let you check it out. As long as you keep your hands where they belong!"

Richard sighed. "I'd be a horrible Doctor if I did that, not to mention a horrible person. Come on."

She got up and winced at the pain. "There may be more extensive damage that I thought."

He walked over to her and scooped her up in his arms. She squealed when he did this.

"It'll be safer if you don't move as much."

* * *

The two arrived at the medical room and were greeted by Andy.

"Hello there, sir! Do you have another patient in need of amputation?"

Eve got a fearful look on her face. "I'll handle this one, Andy. You did clean after the last..."surgery", right?"

"Yes sir, 100 percent sterile!"

"Good. Now get out of here." Richard gently laid Eve down on the operating table. He walked out of the small room and removed his bulky armor, donning rubber gloves , a hairnet, and a face mask. He retrieved a kit of surgical tools.

Eve saw the sharp instruments and fidgeted a bit.

"Scared of sharp objects? That's rather ironic."

He handed here a medical gown.

"You expect me to wear this?"

"No, I expect you to cover yourself with it while I investigate the wound." He sighed. "Sadly, there's no X-ray here, so I'll do this the old fashioned way. Lift your arms."

Eve blushed. "What?"

"Well, if I don't take the shirt off, I can't really get a good look at the injured area."

"I can take my own shirt off, thank you!" She punched him in the arm.

"Fine." Richard crossed his arms.

"What?"

"Hurry up, I have to try and smooth things over with Amata."

"L-look the other way, you pervert!" Richard sighed and turned away. He was more doctor than normal person right now; what was under her shirt was the least of his concerns right now. Aside from the wound that is.

"There."

He heard clothes rustling. "Alright." He turned back around and saw Eve holding the gown protectively over her chest.

"Lie down."

She grumbled and did as told.

"Now, I'm going to put pressure on the wounded area and you tell me when it hurts the most."

"I don't like this."

"You don't have to. You'll like having a punctured lung even less." He began lightly prodding her side, until...

"OW!"

"Hm... It seems it's just a fracture, but you'll have to move as little as possible until it's healed. Which means no more rampages, got it?"

She huffed out a "Fine."

"Very well, I'll leave you here while I play the diplomat." She growled and grabbed her shirt.

* * *

Richard knocked on the door to the Overseer's office.

"Amata? It's me. Richard?" The door opened.

"Look, about earlier, there's a lot to explain."

She pointed to a chair across the Overseer's desk from her. "We have time."

Richard chuckled sadly. "Unfortunately, that may be the thing we have the least of."

He then told his story from their last encounter, albeit an abridged version.

So, this "Enclave" is hunting for Eve?"

Richard nodded. "Not just her either. Judas too, but he's a bit tougher to get to, due to his massive army of Albino radscorpions."

"Which are...?"

Richard sighed. "Remember those Emperor scorpions we learned about?"

Amata nodded. "Yeah, what about them?"

Richard cupped his chin in his hand, trying to describe the monsters the best he could.

"Imagine one of those the size of a pick-up truck, and pale pinkish-white."

Amata shivered. "Yeah. You shiver, I practically wet myself when I first encountered one."

Amata giggled. "I'm sure you did; you always were afraid of those pictures."

"Yeah, well they aren't the scariest thing in the wasteland."

"Oh? What is then?"

"Eve when she's pissed off. Honestly, you can tell she's part deathclaw."

"Wait, what are those again?"

Richard sighed again. "Do you have some paper and a pen?"

"Yeah." She got a page of wide ruled notebook paper and a pen.

"Thank you." He wasn't a very good artist, but you didn't have to be one to draw a deathclaw. His drawing was rather comical.

In fact, amata giggled at it. "Nice work, picasso."

"Hey, I may not be an artist with a pen and paper, but any work I do with a .308 is a masterpiece." He handed her a holotape.

"This has images of dangers in the wasteland and descriptions of each, including weaknesses. Unfortunately, Deathclaws don't seem to have one, although headshots are particularly effective, as is crippling their legs, as the preform a leaping strike and can run roughly one and a half times as fast as me." "Sounds like the Outside is a dangerous place."

"It can be. But, when you really explore, you see all sorts of amazing things. In fact, I've even been to other parts of the country! Once, I went to a place know as "The Pitt", once the city of Pittsburgh, and liberated it from slavers. I've even been abducted by aliens!"

Amata laughed. "Now you're making stuff up!"

"No! I was abducted while roaming the wasteland. I met others and we banded together to defeat the aliens and secure the Mothership. I got some pretty sweet weaponry out of it." He reached into his Ammo Belt and pulled out a glowing white-blue cylinder. "This is an alien power cell. Proof enough?" "Wow, you've been through a lot!"

"Yeah. But the thing is, the Enclave I told you about? Eve is the latest in a long line of experiments." He was quiet.

"You're not telling me something."

"Alright, you know how they're doing these experiments on people?"

"Don't tell me you're-!"

"No! I'm doing the reverse; so far I've successfully mutated an Alpha deathclaw and a mother deathclaw. Although the Alpha is partially my dna."

"Don't tell me you and-!"

"No dammit! NO way in hell! I just forgot to wear a hair net, so a strand of hair mixed with the FEV, thus resulting in further mutation than originally planned. But the Enclave is trying to get Eve. Maybe they saw Alphonse and assumed what you did?"

"Alphonse?"

"Oh, that's the Alpha's name. I usually call him Al though. The other one, the Mother deathclaw? She's Maria." Richie sighed. "I'm really worried about those two, though. They fight constantly, and I end up having to play referee."

He looked out the circular window of the office. "By the way, what happened to Butch? I didn't see him."

Amata sighed and rolled her eyes. "He said that if a wimp like you could handle the wasteland, so could he. So, he left."

"I haven't seen him. That can't be good."

"He's a jerk, but I really don't want to imagine him getting eaten by one of those... Deathclaws, was it?"

"Yeah. He'd probably shit bricks if he saw one." Richard leaned back in his chair. "This brings me back to why I'm here. I need you to hide Eve for a while, just until I get to the bottom of this."

Amata turned her chair. "I guess, since it's for you. But if they find us because of her-."

"If they do, contact me and I'll come guns ablaze. We have Judas as well, who like I said commands an army of those scorpions."

Amata extended a hand. "Agreed?"

Richard shook on it. "Agreed. I'll go tell Eve."

* * *

He opened the door to the medical room. "Eve, you're staying here, in my old room for a while."

She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Look, the Enclave doesn't know about this place yet! If you hide here while I figure this mess out." Eve walked up to him.

"Uh... Eve?" She drew her arm back and slapped him. Richard slowly realized what had just happened.

"What..."

Eve was looking him dead in the eye.

"What do you mean, 'What?'" Eve growled. "What does she have that I don't!"

"Wait, what the hell are you-!"

"OR is it something she DOESN'T have?" She raised her elbow at a 90 degree angle, palm up, and extended her claws.

'Oh shit! This crazy bitch is gonna kill me! And I don't even know for what!'

"Is it these?" She turned to a ¾ view and practically shoved the end of her tail into his face. "Or is it this?"

"I still don't know what you're-!"

She let out an angered sigh. "You're an ass!" She proceeded to deliver a swift kick to his groin, after which she sealed herself into the medical room.

'Well, at least she didn't kill me.' After he recovered from her attack, he put his armor back on, gathered his weapons, and left.

He soon met up with Fawkes. "Alright. We need to get to Judas. Gather our forces and be ready to fight the Enclave. I have a bad feeling about how things are going to play out from now on."

* * *

END CHAPTER 6

Well I added a bit in the medical room, where it explains why Richard shows no interest in Eve's breasts; he's entered his "Doctor Mode" where the only thing that matters is the well being of his patients.

He's not gay.

Anyways that's it aside from correcting "Overlander" to "Overseer", a rather silly mistake on my behalf.


	7. American Government

Chapter 7

American Government

Richard did his best to avoid the stares of the massive scorpions. He entered the cave and found Judas awaiting him.

"You've arrived just in time, pureblood. This weak minded soldier has revealed the name of his Commander in chief."

"Really? Who is it?"

"He muttered the word 'Autumn'." Richard's eyes narrowed.

"I take it you know this man?"

"Yeah. You could say that."

X

_Richard entered the rotunda, Fawkes and Lyons in tow. _

"_I can't say I'm surprised. You and your ilk seem hell-bent on destroying everything our government has worked to achieve." Autumn said. "There's nothing to stop me from killing you this time. Let's end this." _

_Richard's finger floated above the trigger of his Plasma Rifle. "Give it up, Autumn. You've lost." _

_The Colonel smirked. "Ah beg to diffah. The Enclave is at tha height of its powah. Once this fahcility is operational, the masses will flock to the Enclave foh fresh water, protection, and ah plahn for the future." _

_Richard had had enough violence. So he decided to present evidence countering the Colonel's statement. "Raven Rock is gone. Eden checked out. You've got nothing left." _

_The Colonel's expression didn't waver. "The American people are worth fighting for. The future must be secured. I won't let you stand in the way of that." _

_Richard raised his arms. "This isn't the way to do it! More fighting will just make things worse!" _

_Autumn crossed his arms. "And what would __**you **__have me do? Let you have everything I've worked to build? Let you destroy it all?" _

_Richard holstered his rifle and nodded to the door. "Just walk away. It's not too late." _

_The Colonel looked warily at Richard. "And you... You would just let me leave? How can I be sure you won't just shoot me once I turn my back on you?" _

_Richard was about to reply, but the Colonel continued. "I suppose it doesn't matter much now. Very well," _

_He turned to the door and began walking, but stopped halfway there. "I shall leave you to your fate." _

_Richard took one last look at the Colonel before ascending the stairs to the purifier. _

"_I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you'd let him just walk away. It's amazing the world hasn't beaten that out of you." Sentel Lyons commented. "You'd just better hope it doesn't come back to bite you." _

_She walked up to a panel and pressed some buttons. "Well, so much for celebrating." _

_Richard saw the look on her face. "What is it?" _

_She sighed. "One of us is going to have to go in there and turn the damned thing on. And whoever does it isn't coming back out." She crossed her arms. "Not exactly how I imagined going out, you know?"_

_Richard could see where this was going. _

"_So what should we do, draw straws?" _

_Richard stepped past the Brotherhood member. "I'll start the purifier." _

_There was absolute silence for what seemed like hours. _

_Then Lyons spoke up. "You're going to have to be quick about it. If the Radiation is bad enough, you won't have much time." She turned to the panel and added, "I won't forget what you've done here. No one will. Thank you." _

_Richard turned to Fawkes. The super mutant offered a massive hand, which Richard shook. "It has been an honor traveling with you, friend. You will be missed." _

_Richard nodded. "You to, Fawkes. Take good care of Dogmeat." Richard let out a half-hearted chuckle. The door to the machine slid open and Richard entered. _

_He fell to one knee as the massive amount of radiation hit him. He managed to rise again, however. _

_He reached the control panel and typed in "2-1-6". He hit the enter button and the machine powered up. _

_He gritted his teeth in pain... and everything went black._

X

"… somehow I survived. Maybe I should have listened to Sentel Lyons."

"What are we to do then?"

Richard turned to him. "Be ready for anything."

X

Richard returned to his home to find a holotape placed at his doorstep.

He inserted it into his PIPBOY and listened to the message:

"_Greeting, mah boy. _

_ It's been too long. Reports ah've received tell me you've been spotted with ah little lahb raht, Eve. I would like to return tha favor of lettin' me go by attempting a civilized agreement. Meet me at the Adams Airforce Base Tuesday at 1300. In case yah don't know millitary time, that'd be one o'clock sharp. Don't be late. Oh, and leave that super mutant freakshow and yah' reptilian friends behind._

_ Sincerely,_

_ President Autumn."_

"So... He wants to talk about this, huh? That gives me three days. I have some thinking to do." He entered his home, scratched Dogmeat's ears, and prepared for bed.

X

Al and Maria had argued over anything one could imagine;

Speed, power, even so much as the sharpness of their canines.

All contests had ended in a stalemate.

In the end, they decided to ignore one another, with Maria taking out her frustrations on practice dummies with a rifle, and Alphonse clawing at the wall, leaving deep crevasses in the metal.

Both had a nagging in the back of their minds, one they couldn't understand...

X

The next day, Richard awoke and stretched his arms. He dressed himself and readied up to travel to Old Olney.

He retrieved his Victory Rifle, Xuan Long assault rifle, and Plasma Rifle.

As he walked the wasteland, he thought about his meeting, and what Eve had said.

Richard wasn't stupid by any means, but he was... let's go with oblivious.

He couldn't understand her anger at him. Instead, he asked himself:

"What is Eve to me?"

He'd known her for about a week now, but never truly thought about this much.

"More importantly, why has she stuck around all this time?" His mental gears turned for a while, before he gave up.

He encountered two deathclaws and slowly tracked them with his Xuan Long rifle. They didn't attack him, but they eyed him in an unnerving way.

He proceeded into the sewers, where he encountered more wary beasts.

'Guess I gave them a scare a while back.' Soon he reached the deepest depths of the nest. He detected movement out of the corner of his eye and snapped around.

"Maybe I was seeing- OOF!" He was tossed against a set of shelves and his rifle clattered to the opposite end of the room. "Shit!"

It was the Alpha Deathclaw, back for round 2. He Rolled to dodge a strike. Richard tried to circle the Deathclaw, but met its tail instead. It whipped out and put him back to square one.

"Ow..." he slowly rose. "This isn't turning out well. Hell, I don't know if this thing can even understand me..." He reached for the button on his PIPBOY that would inject the steroid into him, but paused.

'If I loose control like what happened with Eve...' He donged another swipe and cringed as he heard a loud screeching as the monster's other hand met his armor.

He backed away and felt for a weapon. He felt something metallic and grabbed it. He glanced at it from the corner of his eye. It was a wrench.

He quickly threw the object at the deathclaw. It hit the alpha deathclaw on the forehead, which prompted the beast to blink in confusion.

Richard started running, only to run into something solid. It was the Mother Deathclaw, and she had a black eye. She was also looking rather angry.

"I guess I'll have to cancel that meeting with Autumn and schedule a funeral instead." He looked at his wrist-mounted computer again. "Unless..."

He hit the button on the machine and his irises changed to slits, and his eye color faded to a pale green. He rose from the ground and roared defiantly at the mother deathclaw.

X

Meanwhile, Alphonse had decided to go looking for Richard, to ask about his mental nagging. He found out from Sherrif Simms that Richard had departed earlier that morning for Old Olney, although he didn't say why.

Alphonse, unaware of his origins, decided to follow.

X

Richard was holding his own against the two massive deathclaws, striking one and blocking the other. He'd received a couple of scratches, but the steroid pumping through his veins made them light, and him oblivious to the pain.

Meanwhile, Alphonse was making his way down, ignoring the deathclaws around him. He soon reached the site of the combat.

"Richard?" All three sets of eyes turned to face the voice. The deathclaws seemed confused.

The mother grunted. "_That human... he smells like..." _

The Alpha snorted. "_Yes... But it can't be... unless..." _

The alpha slowly turned to look at Richard. Richard had seen Alphonse and regained his senses.

"Al? What are you doing here? Get out before-!" Richard was flung into a wall by the Alpha deathclaw.

Meanwhile, the mother deathclaw approached Al, who extended his claws. He growled at the mother, who simply circled him. The alpha and the Mother exchanged a look and the alpha trapped Richard in a corner.

"_What have you done to him?" _Richard stood up and looked the Deathclaw in the eye.

"Made him more than he ever could have been with you raising him."

"_You insolent human! I'll carve your insides out and feast upon your flesh! This male was to succeed me. Now look at him! He is no deathclaw! He is no offspring of mine."_

Richard narrowed his eyes. "You bastard!" Richard swing his fist at the Alpha and hit it in the jaw. He then proceeded to jump onto and begin riding the monster like a bull.

X

Alphonse had retracted his claws. "What? His offspring?"

The mother continued circling him. "_Yes,youngling. What has the human told you? How did you think you came to be?" _

Al looked down to his feet. "He... he didn't really tell me anything. I never really bothered to ask."

"_You were to be hatched from an egg here, in the nursery. But shortly before you were to hatch, The Golden Devil came with the Great Scorpions and their king and took you from us."_

"_There was also a human that reeked of the Matriarch of the West. Is that what you thought then? That she was your biological mother?"_

X

"_Human, you have killed many of my Pack, but by taking my own offspring and turning it into this, you will pay! I will be the one to kill the Golden Devil!" _

"Golden Devil? Is that what you Deathclaws call me?" Richard grunted as he was thrown to the ground. "Looks like this armor is slowing me down."

He flicked the clasps on his tesla armor and they hissed as his armor fell from his body, revealing his old Vault 101 jumpsuit.

"_Removing you metal shell, Devil? That is a poor choice."_

Richard smirked and reached into his weapons sack. He drew two Deathclaw Gauntlets.

"These have been wearing down a bit. Maybe I can take your hands to repair them!" Richard entered the deathclaw fighting stance and lowered his head, bearing his teeth.

He had studied Deathclaw activities, and this was his best imitation of a dominance challenge.

"_So you know this much of our kind? Very well. Then you know what happens to the loser."_

Richard smirked. "Come on you overgrown lizard, show me what you've got." Both let out a roar and charged.

X

Alphonse was looking at his hands. "So... All this time... I've been a deathclaw mutated into... this?"

The mother stopped in front of Alphonse. "_Correct." _

The mother looked to the ongoing battle behind her. "_I think the real reason why you father is angry is because you look so much like the Golden Demon." _

"Look, could you not call him that? Richard is not evil! He's killed plenty, but he does it to protect those he cares about!" He looked past the battle to the small group of deathclaw babies. "Don't you do the same...Mother?"

The female deathclaw looked down to Alphonse.

X

Richard slammed into a shelf and saw something small and green fly towards the Baby Deathclaws. He saw a small metal pin hit the ground as it flew.

'Holy shit..' He rolled away from combat and began sprinting to the doorway. Sure those babies would most likely grow up to try and kill him one day, but now they were defenseless.

He slid to a stop, startling the babies, who were looking at the grenade with interest.

"_Stay away from my offspring, Demon!"_ Richard grabbed the grenade and knew he had seconds to dispose of it.

He threw it down a hall past the alpha, and it exploded. Richard was thrown against a wall by the alpha.

"_You will taint no more of my offspring with you sorcery, Demon!" _

Richard stood up. "Sorcery. Yeah, right. First of all, it's Science. Second, in case you didn't notice, that thing I threw away, the thing which your "offspring" were about to start playing with, was a _live grenade._ In other words, shit that goes boom."

Richard looked over to the Baby Deathclaws. "Shit that goes boom and kills innocent bystanders. Speaking of which, I didn't come here to fight you."

Richard Stood up and walked over to the alpha. "The Enclave is back. Autumn wants me to meet with him." The Alpha was confused.

"_What is an 'Enclave'?" _

Richard put his armor back on and retrieved his rifle. "The guys who keep putting those weird helmets on deathclaws." He turned back to the alpha.

"I have a meeting with the aforementioned president, Autumn in two days. I don't know how this is going to go. If they come back, you'll have more to worry about than a stray frag. They're merciless. They'll exterminate this entire nest."

"_Nonsense. They're no match for the pack." _

"They managed to capture the Mother from the Sanctuary rather easily. I'll tell you what they did with her. They used genetic engineering to fuse her with a human female. I think you know who I mean."

"_The one who was with you?" _Richard nodded as the babies swarmed past Richard to reach their mother.

"Yes. Eve is the result of that. Would you like to loose yourself to that? Become that which you hate?"

X

Al stood still as his "litter-mates" crowded around him, sniffing his arms. He shuffled his feet nervously, moving a bit in place. One looked up at him and let out a "chirping" noise.

"_Why do you look different?_" Alphonse didn't know what to say to the deathclaw chick.

X

"...Would be in our best interests to join forces for now." Richard checked over his weapon for damage. Ironically, the Chinese Rifles were more durable than their American counterparts. He slung the rifle and crossed his arms.

"It would benefit you greatly."

"_How so, Devil?" _

"For one, you wouldn't want to have to deal with The Brotherhood, The Enclave, and my Faction as well." Richard looked up at the Alpha deathclaw.

"Which includes the Albino Radscorpions."

"_Those pale insects are nothing!"_

"They're not insects, they're arachnids. Also, you're lying. I've seen Albino Radscorpions destroy deathclaws before. Their poison is the real killer. It's stronger than any other venom in the Capital Wasteland, although I've read about other kinds of desert scorpion whose venom is even more lethal." Richard walked over to Alphonse, which caused the baby deathclaws to run behind their mother.

"Look, Al... I'm sorry about all this. Not telling you, I mean. It's just I never wanted to treat you too much like a being with feelings. I didn't want to get attached. The truth is you were originally supposed to be identical to a deathclaw in every way, but have a significantly higher intelligence."

"Unfortunately due to a mistake on my part and the violate nature of FEV, you mutated further into what...who you are now."

Richard turned to the Alpha. "I'm sorry he turned out this way. I honestly planned on returning him. But when this happened... well, your reaction 'spoke' volumes." Richard sighed.

"There are many reasons humans attack you. Primarily because you prey on us, but there are other, more subtle reasons." He began pacing.

"Fear. Foolhardiness. Or perhaps the most important one..." Richard stopped and looked the alpha directly in the eye. "To defend what they care about." Richard marched up to the abomination.

"I'm not afraid. I'm no fool. I'm in no danger of becoming a meal. I fight and kill for those I care about. That's why I kill. And I've read the files in the terminals in Downtown DC. Do you know how the deathclaw race was started?"

Richard put a thumb to his chest. "Humans started it."

"_Blasphemy!" _

"Say that all you want. Before the Great War... Before the bombs fell, Deathclaws were created by the US millitary, genetically engineered from Jackson's Chameleons to be the perfect Search and Destroy warriors, to protect humans from dangerous missions. So you're literally just oversized lizards." "_Chamelio Abominus. _We gave you life, and yet here we are, killing our own creations! And they, in turn, kill us. I don't know who struck first, but whoever tipped the dominoes made a grave mistake. I'm almost sure it's humans, because I have a theory that it's embedded in a deathclaw's mind that Humans=Enemies." The room was silent for a while.

"_What do you prepose?_"

"Here's the deal. If you cease your attacks on humans, I can stop most of the humans from attacking you."

"_You ha-."_

"What? Wait, I can't understand you any more. The steroid ran out." He waved Alphonse over to him. "Al, translate for me."

Alphonse nodded, but wouldn't look directly at Richard. The Alpha deathclaw grunted. "H-he says that 'this is inconvenient' and 'is impressed that you have that kind of influence over humans'." Richard smirked.

"I'm well known as the "Mesiah of the wastes." People listen to me." Richard frowned. "But not _everyone _will listen. Raiders and the Enclave are definite outs." The alpha grunted.

"He says very well." Translated Alphonse. "Good. I'll be back tomorrow to install something to let you alert me to enclave presence." Alphonse gave a longing look at his mother as he and Richard Left.

X

END CHAPTER 7

Well aside from typos nothing really to correct this chapter.

Once again, new or old, I hope you enjoyed this story.


	8. Two Betrayals

Chapter VIII

Two Betrayals

Richard fired off another round as he downed a Mole Rat with his Sniper Rifle. 'One day left.'

He wasn't too thrilled on betraying anyone, but he'd only know Eve for a very short time.

Yet so much had happened between then and now. The Enclave saw him as a threat; he knew this.

They wanted him out of their hair so they could continue operations elsewhere he was sure.

He knew what had to be done to protect his home.

He didn't like it though; something in the back of his mind said he was making a mistake.

' One life or hundreds?' He smiled dryly. 'Either way I'm selling my soul."

He fired the gun off again and another mole rat fell.

"She trusts me. The whole wasteland trust me."

He fired again.

"Protect her, or protect my home?"

He fired again... and missed.

"The choice is simple... The life of one is not worth the constant deaths the Enclave brings."

He stood up and returned his rifle to his back.

"And yet...Why? Why do I want to hesitate? This isn't like me at all dammit." He growled and kicked a rock.

He had one person he could talk to about this...

* * *

He arrived at the Museum of History.

He walked over to Fawkes.

"I have a question to ask you." Richard said, his tone serious.

"What is it, my friend?"

Richard waved him away from the crowd in front of the "Aqua Cura" stand.

"The other day Autumn contacted me and we met. We discussed terms for a peace treaty of sorts."

Fawkes raised an eyebrow. "You spoke civily with him? What were his terms?"

Richard sat down on the receptionist's desk. "They'd leave the Wasteland if..." Richard trailed off.

"If what, my friend?"

"...if I turn over Eve." Richard finished.

Fawkes crossed his arms and put one hand to his chin in thought. "Have you spoken to the Brotherhood of Steel about this?"

"That was one of the conditions; they mustn't know until after the transaction..." Richard said, disheartened.

"Then why tell me?"

"Because you know how to keep your mouth shut on stuff like this, Fawkes."

Silence.

"What does your mind tell you to do, Richard?" Fawkes inquired.

"It says save the many, sacrifice the one."

"And your heart?"

"Is torn. My logic is at war with my emotions and I don't know why."

Fawkes' eyes lit up with realization. "What do you think of Eve?"

Richard was taken a bit aback at this question. He'd never really thought about it.

"Well... she can be bossy... and loud... not to mention bitchy... but I'd trust her with my life... I have before." Richard sighed.

"Is there a possibility that the Enclave could fail to uphold their end of the deal? They seem too eager to withdraw..." Fawkes pointed out.

"Yeah... but why? By staying here they're losing numbers. Soon they'll be out of "pure blooded" soldiers. Still, something seems off." Richard said.

"Then what about a fallback plan? Should he betray you, double cross _him _as well."

"How so?" Richard asked.

"When we visited the Air Force Base, I noticed a sealed hangar that seemed to have some sort of Pre-War airship in it. Perhaps if they betray you..."

"..I could follow them! Great thinking as always, Fawkes. Then that's the plan." Richard jumped down from the desk and began walking away.

"Thanks, Fawkes."

"You're welcome, friend."

* * *

An Enclave scientist was just leaving the science wing when Autumn himself appeared. The scientist snapped a salute.

"At eahse, soldjah. How is that compound ah requested coming along?"

"It's complete sir. All we have to do is force it into gas form, which will be done within the next hour."

Autumn smirked. "Good job. Keep up the good work."

Autumn had backed down from an engagement with Richard once; he wasn't about to do it again.

At his command, a sleeper agent in Megaton had collected a DNA sample from Richard.

The results were astounding. His genes had begun a transformation, on a neural level as well as physical; his skin was beginning to gain Deathclaw quality resilience, his sense of smell was approaching that level as well. He was edging closer and closer to one of their hybrids...

But his transformation was gradual, and slow at that; his condition only progressed when he used the steroid, although by more sizable amounts each time. Their process was forced, and required _two _live subjects to complete.

It was faster, but the DNA was heavily altered; the human subjects took on physical traits of the creature they were fused with.

Richard's process, however, was gradual, and even the young man himself hadn't noticed the changes according to their scouts; faster reflexes, sharper senses, being able to absorb more physical abuse...

The Enclave scientists had researched what they could gather from the first syringe Richard used.

Assuming the contents hadn't changed in composition from later uses, this substance could be replicated and altered to suit the Enclave's purposes.

And altered it was. It was going to be in a gaseous form of a virus that would be released upon Richard tomorrow.

It would begin altering his genetic makeup at a faster rate; instead of taking years of use, it would take a few months.

If all went as planed, the Guardian of the Capital Wasteland would eventually be reduced to a mindless animal.

A very dangerous, mindless animal, but mindless nonetheless.

Then the Enclave would attack, overwhelm the Brotherhood and take over the Purifier.

Richard had been a factor in _every one _of the Brotherhood's major victories. Every. Single. One.

He was the game-changer; the trump card. Without him or their robot, the Brotherhood would fall quickly.

As for the other Hybrids that Richard had created?

Those would be exposed to an ever _further _altered version of the virus; they would in a sense "devolve" into what they used to be;

Deathclaws. Mindless Deathclaws. Then?

Maybe made into weapons. They weren't important right now;

Richard would come.

Richard would fall.

Richard would watch, as his sanity slipped away, as his friends and worshipers cast him aside and ostracized him.

Richard would be killed...

Autumn smirked.

...by the very people he wast trying to protect.

* * *

Richard had stealthily entered Vault 101's entrance "cave".

He entered the proper password and the massive gear-shaped door opened.

He walked in and sealed the door behind him.

Once he made his way to the overseer's office, he knocked on the door.

"Amata... it's me. I have a plan."

* * *

Eve arrived and was greeted by the two.

"Eve I'm taking you out of here."

She crossed her arms. "About time you did! I was starting to get stir-crazy in here."

"Hold on. I have a plan I need to go over with you, alright?" Richard said.

Eve sighed. "What now?"

"You're going with the Enclave."

Both females were shocked... well, Eve was mostly mad.

"Like Hell I am!"

"Woah woah, let me finish!" He explained the plane in the hangar at the air force base and how after she was taken, he'd go after her.

"Wait.. you're going to _lie_?" Eve burst out in laughter. "You couldn't lie with a straight face if your life depended on it!"

Richard stood up and walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her dead in the eye.

"I'm serious. This is the only way to kill off the Enclave and finish the job! The only one who needs to be concerned about acting is you. Come on," He released her and grabbed her wrist, leading her away.

"Oh," he looked back at Amata. "Thanks. For everything."

* * *

The next day Richard dressed in his old Armored Vault 101 Jumpsuit; he wouldn't need any sort of fancy equipment; just in and out.

Then, he, Fawkes, Judas, Maria, and Alphonse would get that plane working and rescue her. It was so simple it made him doubt it somewhat.

"You ready?" Asked Richard.

Eve nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

The two vanished into particles of light.

* * *

They reappeared at Adams Air Force Base.

They were greeted by two Enclave soldiers in the standard armor.

"We've been assigned to escort you and Project: EVE to the meeting site. The President is waiting for you there."

Richard noticed that their fingers were hovering _dangerously _close to the triggers of their plasma rifles.

He was glad he had his revolver concealed under his jumpsuit.

"Ah, welcome. Ya'll are right on time. We've taken the time to write up a treaty with the Conditions and what not."

Richard looked at the papers and then gave them a once over.

"I agree to your terms, Mr. President." Richard picked up the pen on the folding table in front of him and signed the dotted line.

'What a fool...' they both simultaneously thought.

Eve refused to look the guards in the eye and sent a very convincing angry look at Richard.. which was kind of real, as she was cuffed.

Suddenly, Richard noticed green gas grenades land beside him.

"Wha-!" He fell to his knees and began choking on the gas.

'D-damn...I can't think straight...' His mind was in shambles and his right eye had turned a solid milky white.

His breathing grew heavier as he struggled to stand, to no avail.

His hearing was muffled as he heard Eve scream something out.

The Soldiers and Autumn entered a Vertibird and took off.

Richard lost consciousness.

* * *

When he came to he found himself with a foot on Fawkes' chest and standing in a _very _familiar stance and Alphonse's Sheishkabob to his throat.

He also felt cold steel against his skull and a sharp object against his back,

"What... what happened?" Richard said, snapping back to reality.

He looked at his hands and noticed his nails had grown sharp.. and a bit longer than usual.

"The hell...?" He noticed his throat was sore. 'Wait..'

He remembered the gas. "What was in that gas..."

"What gas?" Asked Judas.

"Yeah, we got here and you were passed out on the ground and when Fawkes wen to wake you up you attacked him!"

"Wait a minute... " He looked at the claws on his hands. "Damn..."

"Yeah, we were wondering what's with those too." Maria said.

"I didn't think that it was progressing this fast..." He had noticed the subtle things... better smell... a bit more strength...resistance to pain...

"What are you talking about?" Asked Fawkes as Richard got off of him.

"I thought that at the current rate of use that it would take a decade at the least for this to happen, even with my frequent usage..."

"What are you talking about, pure-blood?" Asked Judas.

"Yes the steroid. Well, it isn't exactly without its downfalls. You see, the more I use it, the more I turn..." Richard trailed off before beginning to mumble under his breath things such as chemical makeups.

"Turn?" Asked Alphonse.

"Into one of you. Well, what you were...But it wasn't meant to happen this fast... at this rate I'll end up..."more incoherent mumbling.

"You're not serious, are you?" said Al.

"You're turning into... a Deathclaw?" Asked Judas.

"Yeah. But it was meant to only progress each _use._ The gas... it must have been the gas! It contained some sort of pathogen or something. Somehow Autumn got a hold on my steroid, altered it, and created an artificial virus or something that accelerates the process. At this rate I guess I have about..."

He did the math in his head.

"Two to Three months, tops." Richard growled. "Stupid, stupid STUPID!" He slammed his hand into a metal container... and dented it.

"No matter. We have to go stop Autumn. We need to get that plane up and running! Maria, Al, you two head back to the Wasteland, join up with the Brotherhood. Let them know that 101 is Combat ineffective. Tell them I sent you in my place, alright?"

Al nodded. "Come on Maria." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

"Judas, Fawkes, come with me. We're going to get that plane running before my anatomy changes enough that I can't use it properly."

The other two nodded.

"Do you lads even know where Autumn is going?" A static filled voice said, apparently from nowhere.

Richard recognized it, despite his sanity in the beginning stages of collapse.

"No...No way... Eden? How?"

"I had a back up system installed in me and only recently booted back up." An eyebot flew around a corner.

"That's kind of a downgrade isn't it? Hardware wise, I mean." Said Richard.

"Perhaps... but your 'software' seems to be crashing itself."

"Good point." Richard's voice wasn't its usual calm or angry. It was erratic and shaky. "I hope my mind isn't the first thing to go. I'll need it to get that plane up and running."

"Which brings me back to my point, my boy. He's headed for a base just east of New Vegas, in the south. We have no time it seems. Come with me."

"Why are you helping us?" Richard's voice was beginning to stabilize.

"Autumn was planning on cutting my circuits anyway. And you helped me realize that all life is important, no matter how 'tainted' it may be. Let us go. As I said, we have no time."

The eyebot led them to a hangar.

"One moment while I interface with the doors."

The doors shortly opened and revealed...

"This is an old C-130 Hercules Carrier plane. With a few... modifications.. we can upgrade it to the combat model, the AC-130u "Spooky" model. The parts are all here at the airfield, but ammunition will take some.. scavenging."

"How long will this take?" Asked Judas.

"This will take approximately 3 weeks, but it might be shorter if you're lucky enough." Eden answered.

"Then get me a list. Come on guys, let's get to work. We have a rescue mission to complete!"

* * *

END STORY?

About damn time I got back to this eh?

Well Here's the finisher for Project EVE.

Don't worry though; I wouldn't be a dick and leave you hanging again; after all, we still have another story!

In a race against the clock for Richard and company as they prepare to travel to New Vegas!

Take note I'm sort of AU ing this; New Vegas' timeline ends about the end of this chapter instead of 2 more years later.

The Courier has been in charge for a little over a month...

but more on that later.

Also, feel free to vent your rage in reviews about how much of a lazy cunt I am and how I've been trolling you all for the past year or so.

I like reviews, good or bad btw; lets me know people still give two shits about the story.

I may actually Reformat the other chapters in the future.

Next time:

Bonus Chapter: Epilogue!


	9. Epilogue

EPILOGUE

At the same time Richard and company were beginning the repairs and modifications to the plane, a new being had risen to power in New Vegas.

His name was Ethan Von Bannon.

He had gone from courier to Head of New Vegas in a few short weeks.

Along the way he had visited the Sierra Madre Casino, where he faced the suffocating Cloud.

He had aided in the liberation of a colony in the lush environments of the Zion National Park in Utah.

He had saved himself from crazed scientists, their great minds trapped in glass bowls.

Then he had walked the Divide, meeting his predecesor, the original Courier Six, Ulysses.

Now? Now he was ruler of the Mojave. It was his, _all _his!

He looked to the computer and told Yes Man to arrange a meeting with the NCR's Ambassador.

The Legion had been dealt with, but he needed to work some diplomacy. His silver tongue would have to do the work instead of the iron on his hip.

He'd let the NCR know they were welcome to have an embassy here, but they were _not _going to control _his _city or _his _people.

There was still that deathclaw problem on I-95, but he could always hire someone to deal with that later. Maybe work it into the negotiations between him and NCR.

Right now he was seeing about getting a swiveling chair installed in front of the monitor. That would be nice.

Of course he'd have to check out House's wine cellar...

* * *

Eve was now unconcious behind an energy wall in a solid titanium cell that had three foot thick walls on all sides; she wasn't escaping again.

They would pull back... for now. When Richard had been killed off, the Enclave would return and seize the wasteland in their iron grasp.

Autumn smiled wickedly. 'Finally... I will be able ta' do what that damn machine could never do.'

They already had eyes on their next test subject: A hired killer named Jack McRoswell.

* * *

Alphonse and Maria had reported the news to Elder Lyons. He had taken it surprisingly well, which worried everyone else.

The two hybrids had been dispatched immediately.

X

The Alpha male that was Alphonse's true father sniffed at a bloodied scrap of clothing on the ground, a remenant from Richard's last battle with him.

It smelled... odd. It smelled... like a deathclaw.

He pondered this before continuing on, preparing to make patrols.

* * *

"It would seem Von Bannon has taken his seat as ruler of this city." One voice grumbled.

"Yes. I hope we shall have peace from now on." Grumbled another, slightly deeper.

"I still don't trust him," another grumbled, higher pitched than the last two.

"Mmm." A higher pitched, less graveled voice muttered.

* * *

X 1 MONTH LATER X

Perfection.

That was how Ethan described his status.

He was rich, powerful, and as a result extremely influential.

The deathclaw problem on the 95 had been dealt with, but the man he had hired... Jack something or other, correct?

He hadn't returned to receive his reward.

While he found it odd, he decided not to care as he sipped the ancient Wine, dated 2011.

It tasted exquisite.

He had it all.

Well, except a woman.

He'd worry about that later; he was young and had time.

* * *

"Tha bloody hell are ya gonna do ta' me?" Raged Jack from his table.

"Simple." Replied the scientist coldly. "You," he pointed to Jack. "are going to become one with that." He pointed to a Nightstalker that seemed rather large for its kind behind an energy wall.

* * *

Alphonse and Maria really hadn't had much to do; the Enclave had kept their word and had withdraw.

Now it was mostly their free time.

Alphonse decided to take a chance one day with romantic interest...

* * *

"The humans at that infernal millitary outpost injured the Pack Mother! They must pay!"

Another voice growled. "No! We've been given this peace, we must hold it at all costs! Know your place, boy!"

"If only Von Bannon were here..." let out a quieter voice.

* * *

Richard's transformation had, thankfully, slowed.

However, his Canines were a little longer and his other eye had begun to succumb to the fate his right had, becoming a pale green.

His toenails had grown now. And he could no longer comfortably wear shoes.

He had grown another few inches in height as well, and his hair had gotten long and shaggy from the time uncut.

However the repairs were complete, and the plane was now a gunship.

Its firepower was limited however; the ammo was scarce and they had very few rounds for the larger caliber guns. The small, 25mm Gatling gun however had plentiful amounts of ammunition.

Then had made trips off and on to gather supplies the past day or so.

Food, water, weapons- everything was prepared.

After going through an on-base simulation, Richard and Judas had learned how to operate the plane, although Fawkes had to learn how the guns fired himself; he couldn't fit in a VR pod.

They managed to taxi the vehicle onto the runway with help from a couple of eyebots with lights duck taped to their spherical bodies.

The plane took off and they began their journey; they were off to New Vegas.

* * *

END

and also...

THE BEGINNING

That's all for now. I'll get on the sequel (Unnamed as of Now) ASAP.

Thanks for reading you all.

Remember, no matter how much I rip on you all, that's how I say thank you.


	10. A Letter From the Author Thank You

A Note From the Author

on

Project: EVE

Greetings readers. For those of you who waited out the story until it was finished, I commend and thank you.

Project Eve has been a long time coming, and I'm content with the ending.

Of course I've learned a lot; I even went through the trouble of Revising the chapters!

Most of it was proofreading, but some of it was editing parts or even adding more!

Those changes to the story itself were influenced by mentions from you, the readers.

Formatting was done because I've figured out how to properly type in OpenOffice, and I found the "Web Layout" setting.

Yeah I'm not that great with technical shit, so whatever.

Anyways I'll probably finish up Claws and Steel; that explains how Alphonse got the Sheishkabob he had at the end of Chapter 8.

No promises on that though.

About the sequel;

It's called Project Iesus.

You'll see why later.

The gist of it is that Richard and Company are in a race against time;

Richard's transformation speed begins to become erratic, going from extremely slow to high speed.

They have to rescue Eve before Richard loses himself to the beast within.

Meanwhile the Enclave is advancing on New Vegas and the Leader, Ethan Von Bannon, is clueless.

We'll see some familiar faces in New Vegas if you played Fallout 2...

We'll also see some new faces, such as that Jack fellow that was mentioned... We find out his fate.

Epic, large scale battles as well.

It would appear the cards are in favor of the Enclave, but that can all change with the right draw...

The Enclave has a Trump Card... and that Trump Card doesn't even know it's him.

Will Richard wind up with a Full House or will he end up Busting out?

Once again, thanks for reading. It's been a pleasure.

PimpedOutToast... Signing out.


End file.
